Dara Singhਦਾਰਾ ਸਿੰਘ

Early life

Dara Singh was born Deedar Singh Randhawa on 19 November 1928 in the village of Dharmuchak in Amritsar district, in the Majha region of Punjab. He grew up in a Jat Sikh farming family, and his extraordinary physique marked him out early. Encouraged to take up pehlwani, the traditional Indian style of wrestling practised in mud pits, he trained for years before seeking his fortune abroad.

In 1947, the year of Partition, he travelled to Singapore, where he worked in a drum-manufacturing mill and began formal wrestling training under Harnam Singh at the Great World Stadium. Standing six feet two inches and weighing around 127 kilograms, with a chest measurement of fifty-three inches, he was built for the professional ring, and he soon began competing across Southeast Asia.

Wrestling career

Returning to India in the early 1950s, Dara Singh rose rapidly through the wrestling ranks. In 1954 he won the Rustam-e-Hind tournament, defeating Tiger Joginder Singh in the final and receiving a silver cup from Maharaja Hari Singh. In 1959 he took the Commonwealth Championship in Calcutta by defeating Canada's George Gordienko. He is credited with remaining undefeated across more than five hundred professional bouts, facing international opponents with names like Lou Thesz, Stanislaus Zbyszko, and King Kong.

His crowning moment came on 29 May 1968 in Bombay, when he defeated the legendary Lou Thesz to become world champion. Titles accumulated around him: Rustam-e-Punjab in 1966 and the Rustam-e-Hind crown again in 1978. He announced his retirement from active wrestling in Delhi in June 1983, closing a career that had made him one of the most famous strongmen in the world.

Film career

Even while wrestling, Dara Singh had been building a parallel career in cinema. His first film appearance came in Sangdil in 1952, and through the 1960s and 1970s he became Bollywood's action hero, starring in films with titles like King Kong, Faulad, and Sher-e-Watan. He was frequently paired with the actress Mumtaz, and the two appeared together in sixteen Hindi films.

He moved behind the camera too, directing and producing films, and in 1978 he established Dara Studio in Mohali district, a sprawling production facility. In 1989 he published his autobiography, Meri Atmakatha, in Punjabi. In all he appeared in more than a hundred Hindi and Punjabi films, usually cast as the strong, upright hero.

Hanuman and the television years

Dara Singh's most beloved role came late in his acting career. In 1976 he played Hanuman in the film Bajrangbali, but it was Ramanand Sagar's television epic Ramayan, broadcast in 1987 and 1988, that made his portrayal immortal. Watched by hundreds of millions across India, his gentle, powerful Hanuman became the definitive image of the deity for a generation. B. R. Chopra later cast him in the same role in the Mahabharat series.

He showed a lighter side in comedy television shows like Hadd Kar Di, and his final film appearance came in Imtiaz Ali's Jab We Met. In 1996 he was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, and in 2018 he entered the legacy wing of the WWE Hall of Fame.

Public life and legacy

In 2003 Dara Singh was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's parliament, becoming the first sportsperson to receive the honour. He served until 2009. He had been awarded the Padma Shri in 1996 for his contributions to wrestling and cinema.

He died in Mumbai on 12 July 2012 at the age of eighty-three, after suffering a cardiac arrest. He left behind six children, including the actor Vindu Dara Singh. Wrestler, film star, television icon, and parliamentarian, Dara Singh remains one of the most universally recognised Punjabis of the twentieth century.