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New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS) Dharmendra, a raw youngster from Punjab who entered the Hindi film industry after a national talent search, was upset when his first producer asked him to wait for his signing amount as he was expecting a handsome amount.
However, he received only a nominal stipend – and that too, from what was available in his pocket!
Recalling the incident almost two decades later, Dharmendra revealed that he had received only Rs 51 then.
The Bollywood ‘He-Man’ said that he had first signed ‘Shola Aur Shabnam’ and then TM Bihari’s ‘Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere’. However, it so happened that the latter, co-starring Balraj Sahni and Kumkum and directed by Arjun Hingorani, released first and hence became his debut film.
As soon as an excited Dharmendra reached the studio, Bihari and one of his associates, called Thakkar, asked him to wait outside a cabin as they went to discuss among themselves before signing him.
The star wrote in an article, “I sat there in an excited mood, waiting for them to come out and offer me an advance of at least Rs 500. Can you guess what amount I got in the end? No? Then there it is – the entire Rs 51! It happened like this: First, Mr Bihari emptied his pockets and Rs 17 came out. Mr Thakkar did the same, after which the total amount of Rs 51 was handed over to me.” Published in the Urdu film magazine ‘Ruby’ in May 1977 under the title ‘Mera Bachpan Aur Jawaani’ (translated in Yasir Abbasi’s ‘Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai: Urdu Memoirs of Cinema Legends’).
Dharmendra had many reasons to be grateful to his first director Hingorani, especially in his early days. Incidentally, this was also the first Hindi film for the director, who had debuted with India’s first Sindhi film ‘Abana’ (1958), which introduced Sadhna Shivdasani or Sadhna as she is known.
In the same article, Dharmendra revealed that he owed his living space and livelihood to Hingorani, who was directing his first Hindi film after debuting with India’s first Sindhi film ‘Abana’ (1958), which introduced Sadhna Shivdasani or Sadhna as a child artiste.
He said that Hingorani allowed him to stay at her house and also arranged for his food as he had no money except Rs 51.
“Arjun Sahib took me with him to a restaurant and told me I could eat there without paying anything, as he had credit arrangements there. He instructed the manager there: ‘Give this boy two slices of bread, butter – but not jam – and a cup of tea every day. If he eats more than that, ask him to pay for extra food.’
However, Dharmendra-Hingorani’s relationship went far beyond their first film.
Hingorani, who was known for his fondness for having three-word titles for almost all his films, each beginning with the letter ‘K’, had another common element.
‘When?’ Kyon? And where?’ (1970); Dharmendra as the lead actor, though there were also the likes of Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, and Govinda as second leads in the latter ones.
Two of them also co-starred Dharmendra’s elder son Sunny Deol.
(Vikas Dutta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)
–IANS
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