Shah Rukh Khan on Monday said veteran actor Dharmendra was nothing short of a father figure to him and that his death was an irreplaceable loss to cinema and film lovers worldwide.
Dharmendra, 89, passed away at his Juhu home after prolonged illness. He had been in and out of hospital for weeks. He would have turned 90 next month on December 8.
The Chak De India actor, who attended the last rites of the Sholay star at the Pawan Hans crematorium, remembered Dharmendra and his legacy in a heartfelt post on his social media accounts on X, Instagram, and Facebook. “Rest in Peace Dharam ji. You were nothing short of a father figure to me… thank u for showering me with blessings and love the way you did. An inconsolable and irreplaceable loss to not just his family, but to cinema and film lovers world over. You are immortal… and your soul will live through your films and your beautiful family forever. Love you always,” Shah Rukh wrote.
Dharmendra made a memorable cameo in Shah Rukh’s 2007 superhit film Om Shanti Om and the two superstars danced together on the song Deewangi Deewangi. Khan, along with another legendary actor Dilip Kumar, presented Dharmendra with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. The Pratiggya star had even called the Swades actor his son multiple times.
Shah Rukh’s eldest son Aryan Khan also visited Dharmendra’s residence in Juhu after the veteran actor’s funeral. In his directorial debut series The Ba***ds of Bollywood that premiered on Netflix in September this year, Dharmendra’s younger son Bobby Deol played the leading character of the superstar Ajay Talvar and received rave reviews for his performance.
Dharmendra’s elder son Sunny Deol had a tiff with Shah Rukh Khan after the latter got the meatiest scenes in the 1993 romantic thriller Darr that starred them and Juhi Chawla in the leading roles. The two didn’t speak each other for 16 years and ended their differences publicly when Shah Rukh hugged Sunny at the success party of Gadar 2 in 2023.