‘Hamad Deol’: Emirati blogger reveals his lifelong love for Dharmendra

Abu Dhabi-based Emirati blogger and YouTuber, Hamad Al Reyami is such an ardent fan of legendary Bollywood actor Dharmendra that he even has an Instagram page called Hamad Deol. He's a frequent visitor and a loved guest of the family.

Hamad's love for Hindi cinema’s He-Man, who passed away on November 24, began early. “My father was fond of watching movies and I was in my mother’s womb when they went to watch Phool Aur Patthar in the mid-70s. My father would always address Dharam jee with his character name 'Shaka' and encouraged me to watch 'Shaka,' movies as I grew up.” he said in a conversation with City Times.

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Hamad remembers the serpentine queues outside the cinema in Abu Dhabi to watch his first movie Dharam Veer. As little Hamad watched the hero in his Roman warrior costume, he was hooked. "It would have been 1981-82 and I fell in love with his acting, physique, even his dance,” said Hamad, who is a Media Specialist with the Securities and Commodities Authority with the Government of Abu Dhabi.

When he missed out on watching films on the big screen, he would rush to the video cassette libraries and rent them out. “I would rent out 5 of his films every week," he said.

Since it was the era of newspapers and magazines, Hamad taught himself to read Urdu since it was similar to Arabic and consumed all knowledge about cinema from them.

As a result Hamad is fluent in Urdu and Hindi and can speak both languages effortlessly. "My love for cinema drove me to learn the language," he said.

Hamad eventually started writing about Hollywood, Bollywood, Arabic and Emirati cinema for newspapers across the UAE. It was when social media came to the fore, he started his video blogs and became popular. He recalls a time when his friends and family would go to watch movies and how he would always choose Dharmendra's film, though his brothers were Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty fans.

When Dharamenra came to Dubai with a show called Magnificent 7 around the early 90s, Hamad got to interact his idol. "Like all ardent fans, I didn't wash my hands for one full day,” laughs Hamad.

Every time Hamad would go to Mumbai, he would stand outside Dharam jee’s home, but had no clue how to get in. “After my video blogs got popular, it happened that one of my followers was a cousin of Sunny Deol. I asked him if I could meet Dharamji, and he got me to meet the legend.”

Hamad was tongue-tied in front of a man whose hair, clothes, and mannerisms he copied. Only when the actor encouraged him to speak, his words came like bullets. Dharamji was shocked and touched at the same time, he says, “He was surprised at my Urdu and knowledge of his films and warmed up to me more. Once the cameras were off, he spoke his heart out to me and those are the precious moments I hold dear. I last met him at his farmhouse on September 27, 2025 and wish to see him again very soon. He is very dear to me.”

An actor who didn't win major film awards said that his biggest award was that a fan had come to visit him from Abu Dhabi. “He never lobbied for himself or socialised with journalists to win accolades or awards.” says Hamad.

His children were raised unlike kids of other Bollywood stars. It is only after they grew up, were they launched or were part of the film industry. Hamad watched Betaab without knowing that it was Sunny Deol’s debut. “When I watched it, I saw traces of Dharamji in him. At that time, we didn't have too many references, so I asked the video cassette parlour owner who he was and when I got to know that he was my hero’s son, I watched the film five times.”

And what about Dharmendra’s younger son Bobby Deol’s debut film? “Bobby was going to debut in a film called Badal with Kareena Kapoor but then it changed to Barsaat with Twinkle Khanna. I followed his career for 5 years and watched it in a packed theatre in Abu Dhabi. I remember his scene of fighting with a tiger and then his voice - so many  girls in the auditorium fell in love with his persona and voice. I knew he would be a big star. After a huge gap, he starred in Animal and now in Ba***ds of Bollywood, his career is thriving.”