Dharmendra did not want Esha Deol in movies, but came around later

Bollywood actor Esha Deol, who is the daughter of stars Dharmendra and Hema Malini, once said that her father was not keen on her joining films and wanted her to get married instead.

“He didn’t want me to enter films. He was rightfully orthodox because he was a Punjabi, so he wanted me to get married and settle down at 18 because that was his conditioning, he’s coming from there,” said Deol to Hauterrfly in 2024.

The actor, who won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for “Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe”, said “The women in his family are brought up that way. But my upbringing was very different in my house, seeing my mom act in films and her dance gave me direction. It was ingrained inside me that I wanted to do something.”

Deol said it was hard to get her father on board.

“It took a long time to convince him, it was not easy, but today is a different story,” she said.

Esha and Dharmendra worked together in 2011 film “Tell Me O KKhuda”, directed by Hema Malini. The film also featured late stars Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor and Farooq Sheikh.

Adding she “wasn’t prepared” for the comparisons between her and her mother that followed and said she recalls “feeling uncomfortable”.