When Dharmendra revealed he was a 'heavy drinker' and how he quit, “Pike sharab khud se door hua tha but If I hadn’t touched alcohol…”

When Dharmendra revealed he was a 'heavy drinker' and how he quit, “Pike sharab khud se door ho gaya tha, If I hadn’t touched alcohol…”

Dharmendra’s passing has pushed many fans back into the memories and interviews that made him feel so familiar, so human. Among those moments, one of the most striking was his candid admission about his long struggle with alcohol. At a time when stars carefully guarded their vulnerabilities, Dharmendra spoke openly about being a heavy drinker and the toll it took on his life. His honesty now reads with even more weight, especially as the industry mourns him.

Dharmendra’s death has left the film fraternity grieving the loss of one of Hindi cinema’s most loved icons. Fans admired him for his majestic presence on screen and the brightness he carried through his personal life. Yet he never hid the fact that alcohol had once overshadowed that spirit. In several interviews over the years, he admitted that drinking had become a deep, long-standing part of his routine, something he eventually had to fight his way out of.

In a 2007 conversation with Lehren Retro, he spoke with disarming clarity: “I used to drink heavily, but I have realised that it doesn’t go with me. If you want to look the same and keep your stamina, your thinking, because it does affect… it’s the worst thing.”

He also said he often wondered how different his life might have been had he stayed away from alcohol altogether. “Today, I wish I had not touched alcohol. If I hadn’t touched it, I would have been a different Dharmendra. I would have concentrated much more and in a much better way, which I couldn’t.” He didn’t shy away from regret. He carried it openly, almost as a message to anyone listening.

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What made his reflection even more powerful was how he described life after quitting. Sobriety didn’t just free him from a habit. It brought him back to himself. “Now, when I have left drinking, I feel like I enjoy more than what I used to do. Pike sharab khud se door ho gaye thay, chhod ke ise apne paas aa gaye hain,” he said, explaining in his own poetic way how he had drifted from his true self over the years.

Dharmendra admitted the struggle was long and messy. He made several attempts, often staying sober for months before slipping back. “This kept going on,” he noted. The decisive shift came during a flight to Los Angeles when he challenged his own willpower. “I told myself that I would not touch it on the plane. I took it as a test for myself on that plane to LA.” That small victory became a turning point.

He compared that determination to the fire he had as a young man who wanted to become an actor. “I want to become an actor, why can’t you be without drinks? And God helps those who help themselves,” he recalled. By the time he spoke about his journey publicly, he had already been sober for eight years and called the decision transformative.

Dharmendra’s willingness to face his flaws adds another layer to his legacy. The man who played the fearless hero on screen spent his later years showing what real strength looks like: confronting yourself, changing your habits, and choosing a life where joy feels real again.