Hema Malini was enjoying the best phase of her career when she married Dharmendra in 1980. She was one of the top actors of the Hindi film industry, and in her personal life too, despite all the controversies, she was now married to the love of her life. Even though he was married to Prakash Kaur, Hema and Dharmendra had decided that they had to maintain their relationship.

This was the time when Hema found herself in dire financial straits. The mess was such that it continued for ten years and Hema went through the “worst phase” of her life.

Hema’s career, from the beginning, was managed by her parents – Jaya Chakraborty and VS Ramanujam Chakraborty. After making several hit films in the 1970s and being one of the top earners in the film industry, Hema discovered in the early 1980s that she owed the government tax of Rs 1 crore, and now, she was expected to pay it in full.

In those days, actors were not earning money in crores, and hence, such huge sums were certainly heavy, even for an established star.