‘I worked with Sriram Raghavan in Johnny Gaddar and now Ikkis. He is a very gifted director. He knows what he is doing.’
Months before his sad demise, Dharmendra spoke to Subhash K Jha about his farewell performance in Ikkis.
“It is a very emotional experience for me,” Dharamji said. “To do Ikkis is my way of paying a tribute to India’s armed forces. I had played a soldier in Ramanand Sagar’s Lalkar many years ago. I felt so proud to be in uniform.”
Dharamji singled out young Agastya Nanda for praise.
“He is a lovely child. And so talented. Quite a chip off the old block. I felt he was my own grandson. My relations with the Bachchans go back a long way. I have worked with both of Agastya’s grandparents Amitabh and Jaya. They both love me.”
“Jaya says she is a fan of mine. Jaya is very fond of (Dharamji’s daughter) Esha (Deol). I never got a chance to work with Abhishek (Bachchan). But he is a very well brought up boy. Now I am working with Agastya in his first film.”
Subhash gently pointed out that Agastya had done a film earlier.
Dharamji was surprised. “Has he?! I didn’t know.”
Dharamji also singled out Director Sriram Raghavan for praise. “I worked with Sriram in Johnny Gaddar and now Ikkis. He is a very gifted director. He knows what he is doing.”
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff