When Dharmendra crashed Hema Malini and Jeetendra's wedding: A real-life Bollywood twist

It was a scene ripped from the pages of a Hindi potboiler; high emotion, high drama, and a love story put to the test by fate. In the late 1970s, veteran actor Dharmendra supposedly stopped the Hema Malini and Jeetendra wedding, which led to one of the most sensational moments in Bollywood's history.

Hema's family organised the private ceremony in Chennai, and at her family's request, everything was kept under wraps. When Dharmendra found out, however, he hopped on a flight to Chennai and was determined to put a stop to the nuptials.

Dharmendra crashed into the Hema Malini and Jeetendra wedding

As multiple reports and passages from Hema Malini's biography Beyond the Dream Girl recount, the actress was under immense family pressure to accept Jeetendra’s proposal. Hema and Jeetendra had worked on several films together, and were said to be good friends– their families were also on board with the match. Preparations were underway for the Hema Malini and Jeetendra wedding when Dharmendra, who was very much in love with Hema, burst into the room.

Eyewitnesses to the event reported that Dharmendra showed up in a very emotional state– some even stated he was drunk. Dharmendra pleaded with Hema not to go through with the wedding. Apparently, in a scene which could belong in a Bollywood drama, he pleaded with her in front of both families, insisting that she would be committing the biggest mistake of her life.

Hema’s father, outraged, confronted Dharmendra, reminding him that he was married to Prakash Kaur with children and to leave.

Eventually, the Hema Malini and Jeetendra wedding was called off. After that, Hema and Dharmendra started dating and publicly disputed the matter of their relationship for the next several years. They married, privately, in 1980, and it became one of the most famous love stories in Hindi Cinema history. Decades later, the saga remains a popular chapter of the greatest off-screen romances in Bollywood history.

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