While the nation grieves the loss of Bollywood’s original He-Man, Dharmendra, a quieter truth has begun surfacing — the invincible superstar was fighting a silent, relentless war against multiple health conditions for years, each powerful enough to bring down lesser mortals.
A Decade of Declining Health — Yet Unbreakable Will
In the last ten years of his life, the 89-year-old screen icon faced an overwhelming cascade of health setbacks.
The most pressing were cardiac complications; Dharmendra had undergone two angioplasties in 2018 and lived with dual stents. His severe osteoarthritis left his knees and spine fragile, limiting his movement and confining him to a walker during rare public appearances.
His long-term diabetes, diagnosed in the 1990s, had begun affecting his kidneys, reportedly pushing him toward dialysis in the last two years.
A Rare Neurological Disorder — The Toughest Enemy
The fiercest adversary, however, came in the form of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) — an uncommon neurological disease frequently mistaken for Parkinson’s.
Doctors at Breach Candy Hospital, where he was admitted multiple times, shared that the illness gradually robbed him of coordination and speech.
“He had heroic determination,” a senior cardiologist told ABP Live on condition of anonymity. “Most patients give up. He kept smiling, kept fighting.”
A Warrior Spirit Till the End
Family sources recall that Dharmendra never allowed illness to dampen his humor or grit. Even while struggling with breathlessness and restricted mobility, he would record voice notes for Sunny and Bobby, teasing them about his determination to “outlive everyone betting against me.”
During his final hospitalisation three weeks ago, pneumonia complicated by sepsis proved too much for his already battered body.
The Real ‘Sholay’ Was Fought Within
As the pyre rose at Vile Parle, one truth resonated among those closest to him — the greatest battle of his life wasn’t fought on film sets or cliff edges in Ramgarh. It was fought silently in his heart, brain, veins and willpower.
Dharmendra lost that battle only at the very end — never in spirit.
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