Hema Malini, the "Dream Girl" of Bollywood, experienced a chilling chapter in her life long before marrying Dharmendra. During her early days in the Hindi film industry, while trying to establish herself, the actress unknowingly moved into a bungalow in Juhu that would become the center of a series of disturbing, inexplicable events.
Before settling in Juhu, Hema Malini resided in a small Bandra apartment used for costume fittings while working on her Hindi debut, 'Sapno Ka Saudagar', with Raj Kapoor. Later, she shifted to a bungalow, unaware of the paranormal experiences that awaited her. According to accounts, every night Hema felt as though someone was trying to choke her, making it difficult to breathe. "Every night I would feel someone was trying to choke me; I used to have difficulty breathing," Hema Malini recounted. She shared a room with her mother, who noticed her restlessness during these nightly episodes. The persistence of these occurrences, night after night, prompted Hema and her family to seek a more peaceful abode.
This unsettling experience led Hema to purchase her first apartment in Mumbai, seeking a sense of stability and comfort. In 1972, while shooting for 'Seeta Aur Geeta', Hema bought her first bungalow in Juhu. It was a five-year-old bungalow that belonged to a Gujarati. She and Dharmendra were frequent co-stars and she chose Juhu as home like him. She added extra rooms to the house and loved it because it had lots of trees around it.
Years later, after marrying Dharmendra in 1980, Hema Malini chose to live separately to respect his existing family with his first wife, Prakash Kaur, and their children. She spent much of her married life in a bungalow close to Dharmendra's Juhu residence. Despite living minutes away from each other, Hema and Dharmendra's first wife, Prakash Kaur, never crossed paths.
Looking back, Hema Malini remembers Dharmendra's early visits. "I remember Dharam-ji would drop by for coffee, but back then I had no idea I would fall in love and get married to him," she stated.
