Dharmendra was one of the most popular actors in the 1970s but as the 1980s rolled around and Hindi cinema went through one of its worst phases, and his career also took a huge hit. Like many of his peers, Dharmendra was also struggling to find a hit in this phase but he continued to work in the movies. It was during this phase that he ended up working in many films that would later be dubbed as B-films, and apart from those, he also appeared in many films that were extremely forgettable. One of those films, Qayamat, released in 1983, evoked quite a harsh reaction from Dharmendra’s mother as she walked out of the theatre mid way through the film.
In the book, ‘Dharmendra Not Just a He-man’ by Rajiv Vijayakar, director Raj N Sippy recalled that one particular dialogue offended Dharmendra’s mother so badly that she decided that she couldn’t sit through the film. “Dharmendra was shown full of fury and the lines he said to Shatrughan appalled Dharam’s mother, because her son was saying them on-screen,” he said.
He further recalled, “This was when Dharmendra’s character tells Shatrughan’s, ‘Rape kya cheez hai main tumhein sikhaunga (I will teach you what rape is)’ and his mother came out in the interval, shocked.” Dharmendra tried to pacify his mother and requested her that she should judge the film only after it was over, and if she was still dissatisfied, she could slap him at the end of the film. “Dharam explained to her that this was a part of the script and that she should judge all this after the film was over. He told her that if she felt so, she could slap him at the end of the film,” Sippy recalled.
The film Qayamat also starred Shatrughan Sinha, Smita Patil, Poonam Dhillon, Jaya Prada, Shakti Kapoor and Bindu. In the same year, Dharmendra’s son Sunny Deol made his debut in the movies with Betaab, also starring Amrita Singh. Betaab was one of the biggest hits of the year and turned Sunny into the next big star of Bollywood.
Dharmendra was last seen in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.He will next be seen in Ikkis.
