Actor Esha Deol has admitted that she has never felt uncomfortable about her father Dharmendra’s past relationship. She revealed that her mother and actor Hema Malini told her about his first marriage when she was in class 4. : When Dharmendra’s first wife spoke about his ‘affair’ with Hema Malini: How dare anyone call my husband a womanizer
Esha spoke about her family dynamic in Hema Malini’s biography, Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl by Ram Kamal Mukherjee.
Esha gets candid about family life
In the book, Esha shared that she learned about her father’s previous marriage when a classmate asked if she had two mothers.
Esha recalled that she was completely shocked by the query, and was quick to revert, terming it “rubbish”. She stressed that she has only one mother, but the thought stayed in her head.
Esha confessed that she confronted Hema when she reached home. She said, “At that point of time, my mom decided to tell me the truth. Imagine, we were in the fourth standard and had no idea about anything Nowadays kids are much smarter… So, that was when I understood that my mother had married someone who was already married to another lady and that they also had a family. But frankly speaking, I never felt bad about it. Till today, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. And I give full credit to my parents for not making us ever feel uncomfortable”.
Talking about the family bond, Esha has revealed that Dharmendra would come and share a meal with them every day, but he wouldn’t stay back. “When I was younger, I used to go to my friends’ houses where I would see both parents being around. That’s when I realised that it’s normal to have dads around too. But somehow, we were groomed in a way that it didn’t affect me much. I was very content with my mother and I loved my father,” she added.
About the couple
Hema and Dharmendra met for the first time in 1970, while working on their film Tum Haseen Main Jawaan. They got married in 1980 and share two daughters, Esha and Ahana Deol. Hema is Dharmendra’s second wife, with the veteran actor having been previously married to Prakash Kaur. Prakash and Dharmendra married in 1954. According to several reports, Dharmendra had tied the knot with Hema without divorcing his first wife. From his first marriage, he has two sons, actors Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol.
Dharmendra and Hema appeared in films like The Burning Train, Sholay, Raja Jani, Baghavat, Dharm Aur Qanoon, Do Dishayen and many more.