Dara Singh, a mid-century Indian wrestler with a 53-inch chest and ripped muscles, was a name to reckon in both worlds – wrestling and cinema.
Born in a Jat family on November 19, 1928, to Balwant Kaur and Surat Singh Randhawa in Dharmuchak village of Amritsar, Singh was trained in an Indian style of wrestling called Pehlwani.
Singh wrestled with international wrestlers like Lou Thesz and Stanislaus Zbyszko and had more than 500 professional undefeated fights to his credit. He won the titles in the Professional Indian Wrestling Championship in 1953 and Commonwealth Wrestling Championship in 1959. He was a recipient of titles like the Rustam-E-Punjab (1966) and Rustam-E-Hind (1978).
Only a few people who made their way from the akhara to showbiz had as much success at the big and small screen as Dara Singh. Dara Singh made a name for himself in both Hindi and Punjabi cinemas.
However, it was in the 1980s that Dara Singh became a household name with his role as Hanuman in Ramanand Sagar's epochal TV series Ramayan. Such was his success that BR Chopra also cast him in the same role in Mahabharat.
In his over five-decade-long acting career, Dara Singh acted in more than 140 films, including classics like ‘Anand’ and ‘Mera Naam Joker’. From playing the lead role to character roles, his many avatars endeared him to generations of fans.
On July 12, 2012, Dara Singh passed away at the age of 84 after a brief illness. On his death anniversary, here’s a look at some of the iconic roles played by the legendary wrestler.
Sangdil (1952):
This was Dara Singh’s debut film in Bollywood. Directed by RC Talwar, the film had Dilip Kumar and Madhubala in lead roles and was based on Charlotte Bronte classic ‘Jane Eyre’.
Sikandar E Azam (1965): Dara Singh was paired with Prithviraj Kapoor to play the role of Sikander (Alexander). Kapoor played the role of Porus in the film.
Mera Naam Joker (1970): In Raj Kapoor’s classic ‘Mera Naam Joker’, Dara Singh played the role of a ring master named Sher Singh.
Anand (1971): In the Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan classic ‘Anand’, Dara Singh did a cameo role of a friendly wrestler.
Mard (1985): In the movie ‘Mard’, filmmaker Manmohan Desai cast Dara Singh as Amitabh Bachchan’s father.
Karma (1986): ‘Karma’ was a patriotic film starring Dilip Kumar, Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff. In this film, Dara Singh played the role of Dilip Kumar’s loyal assistant.
Ajooba (1991): Dara Singh played the role of the emperor of India in the fantasy film ‘Ajooba’ starring Amitabh Bachchan.
Dillagi (1999): In this movie, Dara Singh played the role of an emotional and protective father of Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol.
Shararat (2002): Apart from working with Amitabh Bachchan, Dara Singh also worked with his son Abhishek in the 2002 film ‘Shararat’, where he played the character called Gujral.
Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003): Dara Singh played the role of Chadda, a friendly neighbour in Shah Rukh Khan’s movie ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’.
Jab We Met (2007): In his last appearance in a Bollywood film, Dara Singh played the role of Kareena Kapoor’s grandfather in ‘Jab We Met’.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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