There is no doubt that the passing of the great actor Dharmendra has left a massive void in the Bollywood film industry. However, it is also undeniable that the actor's impact transcended boundaries and had a fan following that literally spanned borders. After his death, the actor has been honored for his great contribution to Indian cinema at several events. Recently, the 79th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) paid tribute to the Hindi cinema legend during its "In Memoriam" segment. He was remembered among global cinema icons, and now Hema Malini, his wife, has shared her thoughts on the same.
Talking to Variety India, the actress mentioned that it was rather heartening to see Dharmendra being remembered and honored on a global platform. She reiterated the fact that the actor has always had fans across the world.
Malini said, "He was someone whose presence went beyond borders. He had fans in every part of the world. My God, the way he would be mobbed in foreign countries." She further went on to add, "We didn't travel together much, except for shootings when we got to spend time together. We would sign lots of films together so we could spend time together."
The actress then spoke about how much she misses Dharmendra and mentioned that there are times she has difficulty in accepting that he is no longer around. She said that there are moments she thinks about the time when she will get to meet her husband again.
She said, "I miss him every single minute. I keep asking myself, is he really gone? When will I meet him again?" When asked about her favourite works of Dharmendra, she mentioned, "I like 'Chupke Chupke' a lot — who doesn't? And 'Sholay,' because of all the good times we had during the shooting. I haven't seen all his films. I am going to watch them one by one, as soon as I get some time."
Dharmendra passed away on 24 November 2025 at his Mumbai home at the age of 89 after a prolonged illness and a short hospital stay due to respiratory complications. The actor's last work was in Sriram Raghavan's 'Ikkis.'
