In a recent interaction, Shobhaa De revealed how Hema Malini was completely sidelined by Dharmendra's first family after his death.
The popular actor of Hindi cinema, Dharmendra, died on November 24, 2025, and his death had a devastating impact on his family. The actor had a silent funeral at the Pawan Hans Crematorium in Mumbai was attended only by his close ones. His silent funeral raised many questions. Atop it, his second wife, Hema Malini, was absent from the prayer meet hosted by the Deols, which again raised a lot of questions.
In a chat with Barkha Dutt, Shobaa De subtly addressed many questions circulating in the media about the tension between Dharmendra’s two families. In her conversation with Barkha, Shobhaa stated that Hema must have felt terrible after being completely ‘sidelined’ by Dharmendra’s first family.
The ace writer also shared that despite being completely left out, Hema didn’t show her anger on any public platforms and wished to deal with it in her own privacy. In her words:
“Must have been a particularly difficult and hard decision… To be totally left out by the first family from something that she had spent 45 years of her own life… Nourishing, cherishing, which had enriched her life. She had two daughters from this marriage. It must have hurt terribly, but she kept all that for her own privacy.”
Going forward in the same conversation, Shobhaa De revealed that Hema, being one of the biggest names in the industry could have easily used the opportunity to share her grief. Talking about the same, she mentioned:
“Given the fact that Hema is a towering personality herself, the idea that she chose dignity over making a public display of one-upmanship, I think, says a lot about her character. She could so easily have, in a way, it’s not a nice word but, hijacked those emotional moments right after Dharam ji passed away.”
Shobhaa also mentioned that the entire media was towering on her to capture every emotion of hers, but the actress, instead, chose her dignity. Despite being in front of all those cameras, Hema chose to remain calm and composed, keeping her emotions to herself, which was one of the biggest things for a celebrity.
After Dharmendra’s death, Hema Malini and her daughter, Esha Deol, made a rushed appearance at the crematorium, while Dharmendra’s first family was already there. A few days later, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol had organised a special prayer meeting to honour Dharmendra’s legacy at a Mumbai hotel. On the same day, Hema Malini held a Gita path at home and was not seen at the hotel prayer meet. Hema recently held a prayer meet in Delhi, which Sunny and Bobby did not attend. Hema was also missing from Dharmendra’s asthi visarjan.
What do you think about Shobhaa De’s claims about Hema Malini?
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