Bollywood’s Tough Guy - Dara Singh

Some people leave a permanent mark in the minds of others with their presence and engrave an everlasting place in everybody’s hearts with their skill, talent and charm….One such person is Dara Singh….a well-known wrestler and actor.

Born as Dara Singh Randhava on November 19, 1928, he was well known as “Rustom-E-Hind” which also became one of his movies later on. Before embarking on the journey of an actor, he was a well-known wrestler and former multi-timer World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Competing against some of the greatest names in wrestling history including the great Lou Thesz whom he defeated, Dara Singh gained a name for him in the field.

Due to his physique, this son of Punjab studied Pehlwani, an Indian style of wrestling and was the favorite in all wrestling tournaments held in India. In addition to this, he wrestled on invitation of the kings of various Indian princely states and wrestled regularly in fairs and carnivals.

He took to movies in 1962 and with his first release “King Kong”, Dara Singh shot to fame instantly.

His debut film won him accolades and he was seen in a number of films, essaying similar roles. Some of his movies like “Rustom-E-Rome” (1963), “Rustom-E-Baghdad” (1962) and “Rustom-E-Hind” (1964) adorned his image as an actor, but due to his limitations, he had to confine himself to B-grade films.

He was also seen in films like “Aaya Toofan”, “Sher-E-Watan”, “Shankar Khan’ and “Balraj Shri Krishna”. These films drew a large number of North Indian Wrestlers and Dara Singh gained much popularity. However, the role he portrayed in Manmohan Desai’s “Mard’ is highly remembered.

Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Dara Singh was the instant choice to play his father for the movie. He was able to live up to the expectations bestowed on him and came up with many laurels for this role.

In 1980s and 1990s, he rose to fame by playing the role of Hanuman in Ramanand Sagar's popular television serial “Ramayan”. The series is amongst the most widely viewed in history. He then started acting in more serials and gained popularity.

He has acted in more than 100 films and turned to producer with “Nanak Dukhiya Sab Sansar” and has produced several Punjabi films. Though, Dara Singh bagged a lot of opportunities as an actor with special appearances in RK Films like “Dharam Karam” and “Mera Naam Joker”, it was Manmohan Desai who paid him an unusual compliment when he signed him for “Mard”.

Desai said, "Amitabh is playing the title role of Mard. I was wondering who could be his father if Amitabh plays Mard! Mard ka baap to Dara Singh hi ho sakta hai. This is why I took Dara Singh in the film."

This strong man of silver screen is a kind hearted and mild mannered person in real life…he will always be remembered for his image of a toughie and continue to rule hearts forever.