Mumbai: Actress-turned-politician Hema Malini turns a year older today. The gorgeous looking actress made her debut in the Tamil film Ithu Sathiyam. She got the tag of ‘Dream Girl’ as her name and fame grew. Hema has acted in a large number of Hindi films that became blockbusters. Among the films was Sholay in which Hema played the role of ‘tangewali’ Basanti. People still remember her for her portrayal of the talkative girl in Sholay. The film also starred acting heavyweights like Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri. However, if you have seen the film you will realise that there not a single scene featuring Sanjeev and Hema. There is a particular reason for this.
According to film industry sources Sanjeev was madly in love with Hema in the 1970s. He had approached the parents of Hema, asking her hand for marriage. However, Hema’s mother said no because Sanjeev was from a different caste. Hema however, was initially not averse to tying the nuptial knot with Sanjeev, but she followed her mother’s wish. This development led to the souring of relations between Sanjeev and Hema.
However, worse was to follow. During the shooting of Sholay another incident happened. Forgetting the past Sanjeev again proposed to Hema. At that time the latter was already in a relationship with Dharmendra and everyone was aware of it. So both Hema and Dharmendra felt insulted after Sanjeev Kumar proposed. Dharmendra then approached Sholay’s director Ramesh Sippy and requested him not to shoot any scene featuring Hema Malini and Sanjeev Kumar. Dharmendra was a huge star then and Ramesh Sippy heeded to his request.
It should be stated here that so passionate were the feelings of Sanjeev Kumar for Hema Malini that he remained a bachelor till his death.