'Good That Hema Malini Didn’t Come For Dharmendra's Prayer Meet And Hosted One Separately': Manoj Desai

Veteran actor Dharmendra’s death left the entire country mourning. The legendary star passed away at the age of 89 just a few days before his birthday. After Dharmendra’s demise, the family conducted his last rites privately but later hosted a prayer meet in his memory. While Dharmendra’s first wife and sons, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, hosted the prayer meet at Taj Lands End, his second wife, Hema Malini, hosted it at his Mumbai home.

Now, theatre owner Manoj Desai spoke about the two prayer meets and why he believed Hema Malini did a wise thing by hosting a separate prayer meet for the departed soul. Speaking to Vickey Lalwani, Manoj shared, “I was not surprised that Hemaji didn’t turn up. Before any controversy or any such talk would have happened,

she organised a separate prayer meet for him. It was good that she didn’t come. Hema and Dharmendra ji were very close, but if somebody would have said something to her, the whole prayer meet would have been messed up. So, it was good that she organised a prayer meet separately.”

Speaking about Dharmendra and Hema’s chemistry, he added, “I think he had maximum chemistry with Hemaji. However, he had chemistry with all his heroines, including Mumtaz and Meena Kumari.”

Speaking about the massive footfall at the prayer meet, he shared, “There was a huge line of cars. My car was standing at the 86th spot. Before me and behind me, there were big cars. They performed bhajans at the prayer meet, and the whole world was there. Everybody turned up at the prayer meet. I met Sunny Deol and I told him that many people are coming, so I will leave from the front gate, and he told me ‘thanks for coming’. I stood for 45 minutes outside, waiting for my car because there was such a huge queue outside.”

“I have gone to so many prayer meets of so many artistes, including Rajesh Khanna’s, in which I was sitting next to Amitabh Bachchan. I had also gone to the prayer meet of Yash Chopra, but I had never seen a prayer meet like that of Dharamji’s. It felt like the whole nation was there. There was no one who didn’t want to come,” he further added.

About Dharmendra’s Demise

Dharmendra passed away on November 24. The actor had been admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in South Mumbai due to health complications. Although he was discharged, reports claimed that he had been placed on a ventilator following breathing difficulties. Despite showing signs of improvement, the legendary actor passed away on November 24. His last rites were also held on the same day and were attended by several Bollywood celebrities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Salman Khan.