Overview
- In new interviews, Mumtaz recounts visiting Dharmendra shortly before his death and says staff told her he was on a ventilator before she stepped in to see him.
- She says she chose not to attend the last rites because she could not bear to view his mortal remains.
- Mumtaz expresses sympathy for Hema Malini, calling her devoted to Dharmendra and deeply affected by his loss.
- Coverage points out that her latest claim of seeing him differs from an earlier ETimes account where she said she was not allowed to meet him.
- Dharmendra died on November 24 at his Mumbai residence at age 89, with prayer meetings later held by his sons in Mumbai and by Hema Malini with her daughters in Delhi.