Dharmendra made a major decision about his ancestral property long before his passing

As conversations around Dharmendra’s estate continue after his passing on 24 November at his Juhu home, a specific detail about his ancestral property in Punjab has caught public interest. According to several reports, none of his children will inherit that land. Dharmendra made the decision long before his death, ensuring the property went to the family members who had been looking after it for decades.

Dharmendra, born Dharam Singh Deol in Nasrali, spent his early years between his mother’s village and the nearby Dangon, where his family owned agricultural land. He moved to Mumbai in the 1950s to pursue acting. Since then, his cousins and their sons continued to maintain the fields and the house built on it. The property, which includes around 19 kanal and three marla, is valued at roughly five crore.

During a visit to the village in 2015, Dharmendra formally transferred the land to his nephews. His nephew Buta Singh Deol shared with The New Indian Express, “Dharmendra uncle was my father Manjit Singh’s cousin. The last time he came to the village was in 2019 when his son Sunny Deol fought the parliamentary elections from Gurdaspur. I also went to Gurdaspur to campaign for him. Before that, he came to the village in 2015-16 when he transferred 19 kanal and three marla land to my father Manjit Singh and my uncle Shingara Singh.”

Buta Singh also explained the actor’s reasoning for keeping the ancestral land with the extended family instead of handing it to his own children. “As he had left decades ago for Mumbai, our family has been taking care of his land, and we have been tilling it. He never forgot his roots and us,” he said.

Dharmendra is survived by his six children: Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Vijeta, and Ajeeta from his first wife Prakash Kaur, and Esha and Ahana from Hema Malini. He had been unwell in the weeks leading to his death and spent his final days at home. His funeral and prayer meet saw a large presence from the film fraternity.