Dharmendra and his son Bobby Deol launched the cover of the People magazine in Mumbai.
In an exclusive tete-a-tete, PEOPLE’s latest cover stars, screen legend Dharmendra with
his sons Sunny and Bobby open up on a lifetime in the movies – and the ties that keep them strong.
“I remember seeing Awaara (1951) and I loved that Prithviraj and Raj Kapoor played a father-son in
that. I dreamt that one day I would work with my sons in a movie. I wasn’t even married then, but
see, God heard me,” reveals the 77-year-old Dharmendra exclusively to PEOPLE, gesturing towards
Sunny and Bobby.
The three Deols come together for the third time on celluloid in June 2013, with Yamla Pagla
Deewana 2. It is the sequel to the laugh riot Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011), which followed their first
film together, the 2007 weepy family saga Apne.
Looking back on working with his superstar dad, Sunny recollects an incident on the sets. “I’ve done
quite a lot of films with him like Sunny (1984), Sultanat (1986) and Kshatriya (1993). During
Kshatriya, there was this sword fight and I accidentally hit him on his knee. I was so petrified, I fell
down.”
Growing up having ‘He-Man’ Dharmendra as dad, Bobby, who shares a buddy-like relationship with
his father says, “He was like Superman. I felt like he was the strongest man on earth. I was never
bullied because I was Dharmendra’s son.”
So what are the traits that all three Deols share? Dharmendra tells PEOPLE, “We don’t blow our own
trumpets. We run 100 miles away from that. Deols are shy. There is nothing like show business, but
these days, it’s a show-off business. We have done versatile cinema, but never knew how to push
ourselves into a different bracket. We don’t know the tricks of the trade. Money isn’t everything. We
make films for audiences and I feel that my people are mine. That is the strength that keeps us
going.”