In the tranquil coastal town of Tirur in Kerala’s Malappuram district, 63-year-old Saifullah Cholakkal has turned his living room into a personal shrine: each frame a memory of moments shared with Bollywood’s ‘He-Man’ Dharmendra.
For over two decades, their bond has been more than that of a devoted fan and his idol. Whenever his schedule allowed, Saifullah would travel to Dharmendra’s Juhu home in Mumbai, and the two would chat on the phone roughly once every two weeks.
Their conversations, a blend of cinema anecdotes and personal advice, had become a treasured routine that brightened Saifullah’s daily life. With Dharmendra’s death just days ago, Saifullah now grapples with the sudden silence, haunted by the echo of that husky voice that will never greet him again.
Dharmendra’s autographed photograph with Saifullah | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
For Saifullah, a retired Philips employee, Dharmendra embodied the ultimate ‘He-man’, “the epitome of everything a man should be.” He feels extraordinarily lucky to have turned a screen idol he adored into a friend he affectionately called ‘Bhaiyya’.
