Dharmendra Once Entered Dilip Kumar’s Bedroom Uninvited, Ran Away When Caught: 'Nobody Stopped Me…'

Before he became Bollywood’s “He-Man”, Dharmendra was just a star-struck young man with a dream — and one idol he couldn’t resist meeting. That idol was Dilip Kumar. In a story that sounds straight out of a film, Dharmendra once walked uninvited into Dilip Kumar’s home, not realising he was about to create a memory that would stay with him forever.

Long before superstardom and iconic hits like Sholay and Chupke Chupke, Dharmendra was a young newcomer from Punjab trying to find his footing in Bombay. In his own words, he was completely mesmerised by Dilip Kumar, whose performances had left an unshakable impression on him.

So one day, unable to contain his admiration, Dharmendra decided to visit the actor’s house — without an invitation.

In Dilip

Kumar’s autobiography, The Substance and the Shadow, he recalled how Dharmendra simply walked in. “I wasn’t stopped at the gate by anybody, and so I walked right into the house through the main door. There was a wooden staircase leading to a bedroom upstairs. Again, nobody stopped me, so I climbed up the stairs and stood at the entrance to one of the rooms.”

But when Dilip Kumar sensed someone’s presence, things took a turn. “He sat up and stared at me, quite taken aback to see a total stranger gazing admiringly at him,” Dharmendra had once recalled. “He called out to a servant loudly. Now scared, I ran down the staircase and bolted out of the house looking behind to see if I was being followed.”

Years later, when Dharmendra had made a name for himself in the film industry, fate brought them face to face again. He spotted Dilip Kumar’s sister at an event and immediately approached her, asking to meet his screen idol. “I told her I firmly believed that he was my brother too,” Dharmendra remembered.

When the meeting finally happened, Dilip Kumar received him with warmth. “He hugged me and saw me off at the gate. I can still feel the warmth of that hug because it was genuine,” Dharmendra said.

Though the two never worked together on screen, their bond was one of mutual respect.