Dharmendra’s prayer meet: From Sonu Nigam’s moving musical tribute to emotional farewells

Dharmendra prayer meeting, held on Thursday, was kept private. However, several videos and photos from the gathering have surfaced on social media.

Emotions ran deep at Dharmendra’s prayer meet on Thursday as his family members and colleagues from Salman Khan to Rekha to Aishwarya Rai gathered under one roof to remember him. The evening was marked by an emotional musical tribute from Sonu Nigam, whose soulful rendition to his songs moved everyone.

Singer Sonu Nigam paid a musical tribute to Dharmendra at the prayer meet.

The ceremony also included a special segment of spiritual songs being played live in Dharmendra’s memory.

Musical tribute to Dharmendra

The Deol family, who has refrained from talking about Dharmendra’s death in public, hosted a prayer meet titled Celebration of Life at the lawns of Taj Lands End in Bandra. The gathering saw the presence of Dharmendra’s first wife Prakash Kaur’s along with their children: Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Ajeeta and Vijeta as well as his grandsons Karan and Rajveer. Actor Abhay Deol was also with the family.

The prayer meeting was also kept private. However, several videos and photos from the gathering have surfaced on social media.

During the prayer meet, singer Sonu Nigam paid a musical tribute to Dharmendra by singing songs tracks from his films such as Main Kahin Kavi Na Ban Jau, Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, Apne Toh Apne Hote Hai, Ro Lene De, and Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todenge.

One video shows a live performance by singer Prithvi Gandharv in which he is singing Govind Bolo Hari Gopal Bolo.

A portrait of Dharmendra was also on the stage in front of which singers performed heartfelt renditions of his songs. Behind them, a giant screen glowed with the message, “We’ll Miss You”.

The lawn was decorated with white floral arrangements, while candid photographs of Dharmendra were displayed throughout the space.

During the prayer meet, the whole Deol family including Sunny and Bobby appeared visibly emotional as they stood through the prayer meet, which began at 5:30 pm and concluded around 8 pm.

More about the prayer meet

Apart from the family, Shah Rukh Khan’s family was also seen attending the prayer meet, marking their respect for the late legend. The gathering was also attended by Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Vidya Balan, Shabana Azmi, Jackie Shroff, Sidharth Malhotra, Suniel Shetty, Ameesha Patel, Fardeen Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Sonu Sood, Anu Malik, Subhash Ghai, Abbas-Mastan, and Anil Sharma among others, who all came together to pay their last respects to the actor.

Dharmendra died at the age of 89 on November 24, days ahead of his 90th birthday on December 8. The actor was discharged from Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital earlier this month and was recuperating at home. He was cremated in Mumbai on November 25.