chief
Prime VIP
He's still the quintessential macho man of Punjab. And still he sets aflutter the hearts of his fans, as was witnessed in Ludhiana on Saturday when Dharmendra Singh Deol inaugurated a multi-floral honey store of the Kashmir Apiaries Group, at the Westend Mall here.
“I'm very happy to be in my city. I feel that I'm one of you,“ he introduces himself.
There's an avuncular tone when he says, “The vibrations convey it all...I feel that you're my children and younger brothers...I'm an emotional man...I think from my heart.“
More on his sense of belongingness: “I'm from Sahnewal...Punjab is mine...India is mine.“
His 'honey' connection, he traces back to 1980s when Jagjit Singh Kapoor from the Kashmir Apiaries Group had met him in Mumbai. “I must give him (Kapoor) the credit for his (sweet) initiative.“
Why the endorsement for honey? “I'm so sweet...I eat honey to my heart's content,“ he says with an immeasurable sweetness.
The talk veers around the 'now' and 'then' of Bollywood.
“Films have become like fast food. Earlier, the films had memorable music...
Everything has changed...The viewers have changed.“
For him, it's two good films a year now. Currently, he's working on Hindi film 'Yamla, Pagla, Deewana' that stars Dharmendra along with Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol.
As for making a film with his daughter Esha Deol and wife Hema Malini, he's all for it, provided there's a good story.
What's a good story? “That which touches the heart,“ he says.
Is he open to making a Punjabi film? “Our Hindi films are 'semi-Punjabi' films,“ he replies, with a huge smile. From films, it's over to politics. His take: “I felt suffocated in politics. I conceded to join politics because I was emotionally won over to say 'yes'...In fact, the day I gave a go-ahead to politics, I looked in the mirror and asked myself 'why'...Yet, I have not shirked from my political task...How many of us have the guts to do something 'big'?“ RESTIVE FANS Fans vied with one another to catch a glimpse of the star, who was at his obliging best. However, the over-enthusiastic fans were not at their behavioural best. Despite the star's remarkable patience, the boisterous fans kept getting restive, so much so that at the fag end of the programme, while he was leaving the venue, the septuagenarian actor momentarily lost his temper.
The day was also a tripdown-the-memory-lane for the actor. Some old friends from his native village Dango had come to meet him.
As Amarjit Singh Tikka, director of the Food Processing Industry, tells us, “They wanted the actor to pay a visit to his native village. I conveyed their wishes to Dharmendra, who said he would plan a visit to Dango the next time.“
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