Hema Malini and Dharmendra’s first wife Prakash Kaur never crossed paths despite staying so close by: ‘What’s the point of torturing someone you love?’ |

Legendary actor Dharmendra who recently passed away was loved immensely, not just by his fans but also his family. Apart from his iconic onscreen roles, his real life also has always been a topic of discussion through the years. Dharmendra married Hema Malini in 1980. He was already married to Prakash Kaur that time and had four children – Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Ajeita and Vijeta. There was a lot of backlash that happened when Dharmendra married Hema Malini. However, at that point, it was his first wife Prakash Kaur who took a stand for him. Amidst the controversy, Kaur said during an interview with Stardust, “Dharmendra is not a perfect husband, but he is a wonderful father. Hemaji is very beautiful; any man could be attracted to her.” She had further said, “Why only my husband? Any man would have preferred Hema over me.” She also strongly opposed those labeling the actor a womaniser, saying, “How dare anyone call my husband a womaniser when half the industry is doing the same thing? He may not be the best husband, though he is very good to me, but he is certainly the best father. His children love him a lot. He never neglects them.”Meanwhile, Hema had spoken about maintaining a distance from Dharmendra’s first family and living separately. She never intruded upon Dharmendra’s commitments to his first family, nor did she attempt to alter the living arrangement he continued to maintain with them. In her 1999 conversation with Simi Garewal, Hema explained that she had never tried to challenge Prakash or disrupt the established household. “You love a person so much, and you get so much love from that person—so how can you torture that person for such petty things?” she said. “I never irritated him or troubled him. I understood his problem. When I give so much, I get so much.”When asked if she harboured any bitterness toward Prakash or Dharmendra’s other family, of if she had any jealousy, she said, “Not at all. That’s why I’m the happiest person today. What is the point of torturing someone you love?”In the biography Hema Malini: The Dream Girl by Ram Kamal Mukherjee, she reflected, “I didn’t want to disturb anyone. I am happy with whatever Dharamji did for me and my daughters. He played the role of a father, like any father would.” She further said, “I have maintained my dignity because I devoted my life to art and culture. Though I have never spoken about Prakash, I respect her a lot. Even my daughters respect Dharamji’s family.”Although their homes were just minutes apart, Hema and Prakash never interacted. The only exception came in 2015, when Esha Deol visited Dharmendra’s ailing brother, Ajit Singh Deol (Abhay Deol’s father). Deeply attached to him, she stopped by to see him and unexpectedly crossed paths with Prakash. Esha later shared in the biography, “She blessed me and I walked away.”