Hema Malini and Dharmendra’s marriage in 1980 created significant controversy in the media. At the time, Dharmendra was already married to Prakash Kaur and had four children—Sunny, Bobby, Ajeeta, and Vijaya. This raised questions about how he could marry Hema while still being married to Prakash. Rumors spread, claiming that the couple converted to Islam, had a nikaah, and later held a traditional Iyengar wedding ceremony.
HOW DID DHARMENDRA AND HEMA MALINI MARRY?
In Hema Malini’s biography, Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl, written by Ram Kamal Mukherjee, it is noted that there were doubts about the legality of their marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, given Dharmendra’s existing marriage. The book also mentions widespread speculation that Hema and Dharmendra had converted to Islam, adopting the names Dilawar and Ayesha Bi, and had a nikaah in 1979.
These rumors resurfaced in 2004 when Dharmendra contested the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress party pointed out that he only mentioned his first wife’s properties in his asset declaration, omitting any mention of Hema.
DID DHARMENDRA CHANGE HIS RELIGION TO MARRY HEMA MALINI?
When questioned about this omission, Hema responded, “This is extremely personal between us. And we will sort it out between ourselves. Nobody else should bother about this.” At the time, Hema was a member of the Rajya Sabha, and the Congress party sought to cancel her nomination, alleging she had provided false information about her name and religion. Hema dismissed these claims, stating, “There is no truth in these allegations. I have nothing more to say about this.”
The biography also reveals Dharmendra’s perspective. In a 2004 interview with Outlook, he denied the allegations of religious conversion, saying, “This allegation is totally incorrect. I am not the kind of man who will change his religion to suit his interests.”
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