Happy Birthday Dharmendra: 5 films that made the actor the 'He Man' of Bollywood

At the age of 84, if there's anybody still evergreen in Bollywood, it has to be our very own Dharam Singh Deol, better known as Dharmendra. The He-Man of the 90's Hindi cinema blew an extra candle on his cake today and we couldn't be merrier! With age, the actor is certainly keeping away from the screen but there was a time when he was known as the 'Garam Dharam' for his action-packed dramas and incredible performances. 

With films like Sholay, Dharam Veer, Dream Girl and more, Dharmendra came to be known as a versatile star in the industry. Carrying forward the Deol legacy, he trained his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol too, as great actors and now with grandson Karan Deol marking his debut in Bollywood with Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, Dharam Ji seems on cloud 9. Despite being away from the camera, the actor is pretty aware of who's who of Bollywood. He is quite active on social media. He goes by the username 'aapkadharam' and we often find him express his views on interesting topics.

Today, as the veteran star celebrates his 84th birthday, let's reminisce 5 films from the 90s that made him the He-Man of Bollywood.

Rakhwala

A 1971 musical film featuring Dharmendra, Leena Chandavarkar and Vinod Khanna. Dharmendra is seen as Deepak, who is caught in the clutches of law after he is suspected of his own brother's murder. Deepak's widowed mother passes away, entrusting him with the responsibility of his younger sibling Suresh. While on her death bed, she reveals a family secret about a missing fortune. The conversation between the mother and the son is overheard by Shyam, who is bent on creating havoc in Deepak's life after losing his beloved Chandni to him. The 70's fashion, musical narration and mandatory fight sequences between the hero and the villain, Rakhwala makes a perfect masala film!

Sholay

There is barely anyone who wouldn't know the epic tale of Sholay. Directed by Ramesh Sippy, the film explores friendship, revenge, romance and so much more. If Amitabh Bachchan as Jai, depicts heroism in the film, Dharmendra as Veeru, is his soul. Together Jai and Veeru are hired by Thakur Baldev Singh, a retired policeman with chopped hands who aims of putting an end to Gabbar Singh, a notorious dacoit with unscrupulous activities, in the village of Ramgarh. Their friendship, dialogues, songs, everything became a rage in those times and still remains the same till date!

Dharam Veer

A Bollywood folk film starring Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Zeenat Aman, Neetu Singh in the lead. The film tells the tale of twin brothers separated at birth who meet once again owing to destiny, The two become best friends when they turn older, unaware of the fact that they are real brothers by blood. Dharmendra is the elder one who becomes a blacksmith while Jeetendra is the crown prince. He trains the former the skill of swordsmanship and in no time, Dharam excels the art. Later when the truth is revealed to them, the two brothers join hands and plan to thwart their kingdom's enemy.

Jeene Nahi Dunga

When you see Dharmendra, Raj Babbar and Shatrughan Sinha together, there has to be a high dose of action. The film revolves between the unending enmity and hostility between the two communities of Jangavar and Dilavar. Dharmendra is seen in a double role where he plays Raka as well as Roshan. Roshan aims to bring peace between the two revolting groups and marries Chandni. This causes anger among the Jangavars' who then kills him. Raka promises Roshan to unite their brother Badal and Reshma belonging to the Jangavars' in order to endorse peace. Badal and Reshma fall in love, but the latter asks him to kill Raka instead.

Elaan-E-Jung 

As the name suggests, Elaan-E-Jung is a film high on action and drama. A small Indian village is terrorized by a terrorist named Durjan who wishes to destroy the country and become its ruler. The film stars Dharmendra and Jaya Prada in the lead whereas Sadashiv Amrapurkar played the antagonist. Durjan holds a secret rendezvous with a group of other terrorists. The meeting is secretly photographed by Raj who hides the evidence in a temple. After finding the photographs, Dharmendra as Thakur Arjun Singh attempts to find and stop the terrorists.

ALSO READ: Flashback Fridays! Would Have Married Dharmendra Had He Been Single: Hema Malini's 1976 Interview