Mumbai, Oct 24 (IANS): Veteran Bollywood star Dharmendra is currently spending time with a “diehard” fan he met 23 years ago on a holiday.The star revealed that with time, the bond grew and called him his “family.”

Dharmendra took to Instagram, where he shared a picture posing with his fan-turned-friend, whose name is Aroon Softa. In the image, the two are looking at the camera and smiling.

For the caption, he wrote: “Dosto, 23 saal pehale Aroon Softa naam ka ye diehard fan mila tha …… pyaar badhta gaya badhta gaya…. . ..aaj ek family ho chuke hain hum….. Aroon is a loving and very jolly fellow. I am enjoying my holiday with him.”

The octagenarian, who is known as the “He-Man” of Bollywood, gained popularity in the mid-1960s for films, such as “Ayee Milan Ki Bela”, “Phool Aur Patthar”, “Aaye Din Bahar Ke”, “Ankhen”, “Shikar”, “Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke”, “Jeevan Mrityu”, “Mera Gaon Mera Desh”, “Seeta Aur Geeta”, “Raja Jani”, “Jugnu”, “Yaadon Ki Baaraat”, “Dost”, “Sholay”, “Hukumat”, “Aag Hi Aag”, “The Burning Train.”

Beginning in the late 1990s, he appeared in character roles in several successful and acclaimed films, such as “Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya”, “Life in a… Metro”, “Apne”, “Johnny Gaddaar” and “Yamla Pagla Deewana”.

Talking about his latest work, the star was seen in films such as “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani” starring Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan; and Shahid Kapoor-starrer “Teri Baaton Mein Uljha Jiya”, which also had Kriti Sanon.

It was Dharmendra’s kiss in “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani” with Shabana Azmi that went viral on social media. He had at that time compared it to grandson Rajveer Deol’s liplocks in “Dono”

He will next be seen in Sriram Raghavan’s “Ikkis” with Agastya Nanda. The film is set against the backdrop of the 1971 war. It follows the life of second Lieutenant Arun Khetrapal.