Waheeda Rehman remembers Dharmendra, as an uncomplicated and grounded person, even after finding fame. She describes him as the young man from rural Punjab, who arrived in Mumbai with dreams of becoming an actor. Although they worked together on only a handful of films, she recalls that their collaborations were not major projects in her career.
She mentions Asit Sen’s Khamoshi and Rajinder Singh Bedi’s Phagun. In both films, Dharmendra had small roles. In Khamoshi, his face never appeared on screen as he performed with his back to the camera, yet still managed to leave an impact.
Waheeda Rehman also looks back at their spy thriller Baazi with some discomfort. During that time, she was experimenting with glamorous roles in an effort to move away from her image of playing homely characters. She shares that it was actually Rajendra Kumar who encouraged her to try a glamorous look.
Reflecting on that phase, she says that artists sometimes make choices they later question exchanging meaningful roles for less fitting ones. She wishes she had the opportunity to work on stronger films with Dharmendra.
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