Dharmendra & Hema Malini – One of the quintessential masala jodis of the 70’s, Dharamendra and Hema Malini also had their own love story off screen too. Their most iconic pairing has to be Sholay (1975) where Malini played chatterbox bullock cart driver Basanti and Dharamendra played the comic and smitten Veeru. In a film as legendary as Sholay, known for the bombastic debut for Amjad Khan and its very Pekinpah-like action sequences, Hema and Dharamendra created such indelible characters. One of the best scenes is when Jai and Veeru are driven by Basanti and her handy horse Dhanno, Veeru is immediately smitten and flirts with her, but Basanti rebuffs him. Hema and Dharamendra’s rapid sparring is hilarious and would be right at home in a 1930’s Hollywood screwball film. This jodi have starred in many ludicrous masala films together, like Maa (1976) a very didactic film about an elephant let loose in the city, which Dharamendra needs to rescue. Even in this insipid film, whenever Hema and Dharamendra interact on screen, they can elevate the silliest script to quality viewing.
