Mumbai: Aamir Khan shared the heartwarming story behind taking his son Azad to meet veteran actor Dharmendra.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 56th International Film Festival of India, the actor shared that he had grown very close to Dharmendra, especially during the last year of his life. Aamir revealed that he met him around 7–8 times. On one of these visits, he decided to bring his son Azad along, believing it was important for Azad to meet the legendary actor whose work he hadn’t really experienced.
While talking about Dharmendra, Aamir Khan shared, “Well, I’ve grown up watching him and I mean he was known as the action hero and the he-man And of course he was extremely good, you know, portraying these strong characters in action films. He was very good at that. But I think people have, I don’t know whether people have really noticed, I think he is underrated. His performances in romance or different genres, he’s done so well.”
“He does amazing comedy, he does amazing romance, you know, dramas. So according to me, Dharamji was right up there as one of the finest actors that we have. So, I’ve really looked up to him always.”
Aamir went on to add, “And I mean what a handsome person. Today in fact, I’m not there in Bombay but today is his prayer meeting unfortunately. I’m missing it. And I was very close to him because in the last, I would say last one year, I must have met him about 7-8 times. Because I used to really enjoy his company so I used to go and sit with him. One day I took Azad with me, you know, my son. I said I want you to meet someone because Azad has not seen his work really. But Azad came with me and we spent a couple of hours with him and it was really wonderful. You know, Dharamji was not only such a fine actor but he was a great human being.”
“He was so gentle. No matter who he would meet, whether it’s a colleague, whether it’s someone not from the industry, he would always be very warm and soft in meeting people. Always. So, he was a wonderful person, he was a great actor and it’s a great loss for all of us,” mentioned the ‘3 Idiots’ actor.
Aamir Khan was among the many celebrities who attended Dharmendra’s funeral. Stars including Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jeetendra, Sanjay Dutt, Abhay Deol, Shatrughan Sinha, and several others paid their heartfelt respects.
Dharmendra, fondly remembered as Bollywood’s He-Man, passed away on November 24 at the age of 89.
