Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Abhay Deol at Dharmendra's Ikkis premiere. (Pic: Varinder Chawla)
The Deol family came together for the premiere of the late legendary star Dharmendra’s film Ikkis in Mumbai on Monday. The posthumous release turned into an emotional evening as the premiere saw the who’s who of Bollywood in attendance, including Salman Khan, who was seen getting emotional while looking at Dharmendra’s poster at the event. Even Sunny Deol appeared visibly moved as he posed in front of his father’s poster.
Videos from the event show Sunny Deol walking up to Dharmendra’s poster and posing in front of it as the paparazzi clicked pictures. The actor opted for a grey suit paired with a white shirt for the evening. Earlier, when Dharmendra was admitted to the hospital, Sunny had expressed his anger at photographers for intruding on the family’s privacy and had also lashed out at them on one occasion. Since then, he had largely stayed away from the media, making his first public appearance only at the Ikkis trailer launch.
Sunny’s brother Bobby Deol and his wife Tanya Deol were also spotted at the premiere. Bobby wore a white shirt and black pants for the event, while Tanya opted for an all-black outfit. Bobby and Tanya’s son Aryaman Deol also accompanied his parents to the premiere, along with Bobby and Sunny’s cousin and actor Abhay Deol.
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan also attended the Ikkis premiere and was seen standing in front of Dharmendra’s poster, admiring it. Salman and Dharmendra shared a close bond over the years. The actor, who recently turned 60, looked visibly emotional during the brief pause at the premiere, making the moment even more poignant.
Earlier, Sunny had shared a heartfelt behind-the-scenes video of Dharmendra from the film’s set. The clip showed the veteran actor’s final day on set, where he can be seen saying, “I am extremely happy to be with Maddock Films. The team, the captain Sriram ji… the film is done in a very nice way. I think people in both India and Pakistan should watch it.”
This was followed by Dharmendra cutting a cake to mark his final day of shooting. “I am a bit sad today for the last day of shooting,” the actor said, as Jaideep Ahlawat and the film’s director Sriram Raghavan were seen standing beside him.
Ikkis stars Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda in the lead role and also marks the acting debut of Akshay Kumar’s niece Simar Bhatia. The film is scheduled for a theatrical release on January 1.
Curated by Shiv Shakti Mishra
