Dara Singh Randhawa was born on 19 November, 1928 in a Jatt Sikh family in the village of Dharmchuak in the Majha area of Punjab. At the time of his birth, there was a colonial rule of Britishers in India.
Dara Singh was a Rajya Sabha member and the first sportsman to become a member of the Rajya Sabha. He also started his acting career alongside his wrestling career in 1952 where he worked in a few Punjabi and Hindi movies.
He became widely popular amongst kids during that time because of his physique and health. Many children looked up to him as a role model and wanted to start professional wrestling in India. He is well known for his unbeatable streak of winning in World wrestling.
He played the role of Hanuman in the film Bajrangbali in 1976 which became very famous and was loved and appreciated by the people of India. This role was his breakthrough in the film industry. He further went on to play the same role in Ramanand Ramayan.
He was included in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018 which is recognized as a legendary professional group. The unfortunate death of this legend arrived on 12 June 2012.
He left his house and went to Singapore in the late 1940s and started working in a drum manufacturing factory while started his physical wrestling training under his coach Harnam Singh in the Great World Stadium.
As a young Punjabi Jatt he was 6 feet 2 inches tall, 126 kilograms of weight and had a chest measurement of 54 inches. Due to his healthy physique, he was advised and guided to take up pehlwani (Indian style of wrestling) in which he trained for several years.
After choosing professional wrestling, he got the opportunity to fight against big wrestlers like Bill Verna, Firpo Zbyszko, John Da Silva, Rikidōzan, Danny Lynch and Ski Hi Lee. His King Kong flooring is iconic till this day.
Dara competed in a competition called Rustam-e-Hind in 1954 (Champion of India) tournament where he won a crucial final by defeating his competitor, Tiger Joginder Singh. He received a cup of silver from Maharaja Hari Singh.
He didn't stop after winning Rustam-e-hind. He further went on to win the Commonwealth Competition against George Gordienko in Calcutta. In Bombay on 29 May 1968 , his victory against Lou Thesz secured him the World Championship.
According to a competitor called Thesz, Dara Singh was "an authentic wrestler who was superbly conditioned" and had no problem losing against him. Dara played his last tournament as a wrestler in 1983 in New Delhi where he announced his retirement.
When Dara Singh left his village in 1948, he took up acting as a career. He became an actor in 1952, his debut film being Sangdil. Singh mainly did only stunt films till his first lead role in the movie King Kong in 1962 directed by Babubhai Mistry's.
From the beginning of 1963, he mostly paired up with actress Mumtaz and this partnership ran for 16 films. During this time he also became the highest-paid B-grade actor in India, receiving nearly 4 lakh rupees per film.
He then took up television in the late 1980s, where he bagged the role of Hanuman in the television serial, Ramayan. Dara Singh also played numerous roles in films like Veer Bheemsen and Ramayan.
He contributed to various other films like Mahabharata where he played the role of Bhima played the role of Balram in various mythological movies and serials.
Dara Singh's last Hindi film appearance was in the Jab we met and his last Punjabi movie was Dil Apna Punjabi, before his illness. He was also included in the National Award-winning movie directed by Balwant Singh Dullat called Main Maa Punjab Dee.
Punjabi movies include Sawa Lakh Se Ek Ladaun, Nanak Dukhiya Sab Sansar, Dhyanu Bhagat and Rab Dian Rakhan were directed by Dara Singh. Bhakti Mein Shakti and Rustom in 1982, were released under his own film production company called "Dara Films".
Dara Film was
established in the 1970's when he started his journey as director and producer.
No one can doubt his passion as an actor and his love for his professional career as a wrestler and
this blog is just a small ounce of recognition towards his greatness.
Edited by Jerusha Patel
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