The film was Sapnon Ka Saudagar and the year, 1968. The title ‘Dream Girl’ was coined by Ananantha Swamy and all the bill boards in the city had her face smiling at you. In just a few weeks, Hema Malini had become a household name and by the end of the decade, she was the undisputed number one star of Hindi cinema. From 1970 to 1979 Hema Malini had 65 releases and barring a few all of them were superhits. Some of the memorable films include Johnny Mera Naam with Dev Anand, Andaz with Rajesh Khanna and Ramesh Sippy’s Seeta aur Geeta and Sholay.
She was working with all the top heroes of that time, Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Shashi Kapoor and of course Dharmendra. Hema -Dharam pair got the box-office into a tizzy and they went to do close to 28 films together. Sharafat, Tum Haseen Main Jawan, Naya Zamana, Raja Jani, Patthar Aur Payal, Dost, Sholay, Charas, Jugnu, Apna Khoon, Azaad and Dillagi include some of them. Both were young, passionate, successful and cupid was more than eager to strike the arrow.
The decision to get married was not easy for both but they were committed and tied knot in a quiet ceremony held at Hema Malini’s home. Their fans were jubilant and the film industry supportive but their detractors maligned them. Hema Malini and Dharmendra did not offer any explanations. They continued with their lives and work. They were still in demand as a pair and did Aas Paas, The Burning Train, Alibaba Aur 40 Chor, Baghavat, Samraat, Razia Sultan, Raaj Tilak and more in the 1980s. Hema Malini continued to sing/ dance/ ride and perform action pregnancies during both her pregnancies and the result shows in sequences of Kranti, Razia Sultan and Satte Pe Satta.
To be concluded