‘If Sridevi received a state funeral, Dharmendra more than merited it’: Shobhaa De says Hema Malini ‘deserved more grace’ from Deols

Author-journalist Shobhaa De recently reacted to late star Dharmendra not getting a state funeral

The Deol family chose a quite and private goodbye to late star Dharmendra, instead of a state funeral. The veteran actor’s sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol performed the last rites with their close family and friends, while his second wife Hema Malini was missing from the prayer meet. In a recent interview, journalist and author Shobhaa De opened up about the Deol family’s decision to have a simple funeral. She also admitted that Hema deserved more ‘grace’ after Dharmendra’s demise.

During a conversation with Vickey Lalwani, she was asked if the late legend deserved a state funeral. “I completely agree, I have written about it as well. There have been others in the past from the film industry, who were given that honour. And, he richly deserved it, he was so loved. It seemed like either an oversight or there were political reasons why it didn’t happen. Given his background and Hema’s background, all it would have needed perhaps was a nudge or a call. If Sridevi could get a state funeral..she was also a much loved star. Surely, someone of Dharmendra’s stature should have got one too,” Shobhaa replied.

Mentioning the fact that both Dharmendra and Hema Malini were a part the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she further added, “Dharmendra was critical, ailing, and it was a matter of days, it was known to everybody. So, if something had to be organised, it could have happened in the interim. I’m not quite sure why it didn’t happen. It could have taken one phone call from Hema herself, she is a parliamentarian and quite high in the BJP hierarchy.”

The columnist recalled Dharmendra’s prayer meet in Delhi, hosted by Hema Malini, and how the actor-politician kept stating him as ‘Dharam ji’ instead of her husband. “Maybe, the family didn’t want a state funeral. Who am I to say why it didn’t happen? But, it does seem a bit strange and very disappointing. She was still his wife for over 40 years, she has emphasized that over and over again. Whether she was officially recognised as his wife by the party hierarchy, I have no idea,” she said.

She also admitted that Dharmendra’s first family should haveshown more grace to Hema. “There were two parallel families over four decades. Dharam ji had always acknowledged them as his own, his daughters in particular and certainly Hema. If access was denied, I think maybe some more grace should have been shown.”

When asked about the suspected differences between the two families after they organised different prayer meetings, Hema told E Times, “Yeh humare ghar ka personal mamla hai. We talked to each other.”

Hema shared that the reason behind organising separate prayer meetings was because she has a different set of friends and well-wishers than Prakash Kaur’s family. She said she kept one prayer meet at her home because her ‘group of people are different’.

Dharmendra passed away in November, last year. After his death, both the families hosted two separate prayer meets for him, in Delhi and Mumbai. For the unknown, the late actor had gotten married twice, first to Prakash Kaur in 1954, with whom he had four children (Sunny, Bobby, Vijeta, Ajeeta), and then to actor-MP Hema Malini in 1980, with whom he has two daughters (Esha, Ahana).