Actress Esha Deol fondly remembered her late father Dharmendra after he was posthumously honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award, by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Dharmendra’s wife, actress-politician Hema Malini, received the award on behalf of the deceased actor.
Sharing photos of mother Hema holding the honour, Esha wrote on Instagram, “A moment of pride A moment of emotion, How we so deeply wished he was present today dressed in a crisp white shirt and blue suit looking as handsome as always with excitement of a young boy going to receive the prestigious award.”
“Yesterday as my mother represented our family and received the award . And the youngest of us Ahana represented all the 6 of us his children & shed tears & clapped in honour of our father A man who we love , who we cherish, who we miss & who we proudly call our papa . Forever in our hearts,” Esha signed off.
Dharmendra died on November 24, just weeks shy of his 90th birthday, after a prolonged illness.
He was among the 131 recipients of the Padma awards announced on the eve of the 77th Republic Day.
The veteran actor, along with V.S. Achuthanandan, was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan, while Soren and Pandey were posthumously conferred the Padma Bhushan.
In 2012, the He-Man of Bollywood was conferred with the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour.
The Padma awards are presented every year to recognise work of distinction and exceptional achievements in different fields. This year’s list comprises five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards. Nineteen of the Padma awardees are women. The list also includes six persons from the foreigners/ NRI/ PIO/ OCI categories and 16 posthumous awardees.
Dharmendra’s last big screen outing was Sriram Raghavan’s war drama Ikkis.