Saturday, July 14, 2012

Dara Singh : Rustom - e- Hind

“Khud ko Dara Singh samajhta hai kya?” (You think you are Dara Singh?) That familiar taunt, used frequently even today to sneer at people’s delusions about their physique or strength, draws attention to how the nation saw its most famous pehalwan, or wrestler — a symbol of power, heroism, righteousness and supremacy.

Dara Singh (19 November 1928 – 12 July 2012) was an Indian wrestler-turned-actor from Indian Punjab. He was unquestionably India’s original He-Man. Singh took part in about 500 professional fights, all undefeated, for this,  he won the title of ‘Rustam-E-Punjab’ and ‘Rustam-e-Hind’ and later Rustam-E-Zamaan. He was the first sportsman to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha by Bhartiya Janata Party during August 2003 – August 2009. He has also worked as Hindi and Punjabi film producer, director and writer in his career. He has also been an Indian television actor. Actor Akshay Kumar remarked him as "Hanuman for every kid and the God of all wrestlers, the original action hero who truly inspired me."

Dara Singh was born as Deedar Singh Randhawa to father Surat Singh and mother Balwant Kaur, on 19 November 1928 in Dharmuchak village, Amritsar district in Punjab. Dara Singh married Surjeet Kaur Randhawa in May 1961. They have five children, including actor Vindoo.

Colossal and strikingly handsome, Singh was one of India’s redoubtable wrestlers best remembered for a fight against Australia’s King Kong. In what was one of the most breathtaking fights in the ring, Singh (130 kg) lifted an almost 200kg King Kong of Australia over his head and twirled him around in dramatic fashion. He claimed the World Championship by defeating Lou Thesz of America. As a wrestler, he fought more than 500 professional bouts and remained undefeated in all of them. Singh retired from active wrestling in 1983. In 1996 he was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

He started his career as an actor in 1952 with Sangdil. In Hindi and Punjabi cinema, he made macho acceptable through more than a hundred films. In 1959, he starred in Jagga Daku. Following a number of such B-grade films, he took to doing character actor roles and achieved success more in mythological hits like Tulsi Vivah, Har Har Mahadev, Bajrangbali, Bhakti Mein Shakti. One of his notable friends was the actress Mumtaz with whom he had performed in 16 Hindi films and had 10 of them as box office hits. His last notable act though was in Imtiaz Ali’s Jab We Met. He carried his image into television as well. His Hanuman in Ramanand Sagar’s epic series Ramayana is the stuff of popular legend. He also produced 8 films and wrote the story for 7 films.

He was admitted in Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on 7 July 2012 following a cardiac arrest. He was released from hospital on 11 July in deference to the wishes of his family. He died on 12 July 2012 at his home in Mumbai.

He was India's symbol of strength. He was also known for his generous kind nature. Affable to the extreme, he made friends easily and never misused his power even in his heydays. From ring to screen, he won the heart of generations.

                                                                                                  I don’t claim the information to be my own. The information is compiled from different sources



2 comments:

  1. interesting piece of information, I had come to know about your web-page from my friend pramod, jaipur,i have read atleast eight posts of yours by now, and let me tell you, your blog gives the best and the most interesting information. This is just the kind of information that i had been looking for, i'm already your rss reader now and i would regularly watch out for the new posts, once again hats off to you! Thanks a million once again, Regards, dara singh

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    Replies
    1. Thank u Shashi.....your appreciation will inspire us to keep up the good work.

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