Dharmendra gives up alcohol

Veteran Bollywood actor, Dharmendra, who completes 50 years of acting this year, is completely off alcohol after  a recent health scare.

He promised daughter Esha on the sets of their new movie Tell Me Oo Khuda in Goa that he will not touch alcohol again. He now says that no power on earth can make him take to the bottle again — even  if  it  means  doing a less convincing  drunken sequence than the “suicide” act in Sholay where  the  star had taken large swigs for a scene.

For a scene in his new film, Dharmendra and his two sons, who also star with him in the film, were required to do a drunken boys’ night out act and he refused to  consume alcohol.

Says director Samir  Karnik, “Sunny has always been  a teetotaler. But it was surprising to see Dharamji ordering apple juice for the scene. Dharamji has made a promise to somebody that he won’t drink. The only one who really drank in the sequence was Bobby Deol.”

He says, “My days of masti are over. I wake up early, do yoga and meditate.”

While on the subject of family, there is  a twinge  of  regret  in his voice when  he talks about his clan being  unable to market itself as a brand in  Bollywood. “I never knew how  to do these things, be media friendly and get myself  in the news. My boys are worse. They are more shy than I used to be,” he ends.