Dara Singh

19 Nov, 1928 | Dharmchuk, Amritsar, Punjab

Actor

Biography

Dara Singh is from India's state of Punjab. Due to his physique he was encouraged to study Pehlwani, an Indian style of wrestling, in the milked sand wrestling pits of India called akhara. Dara Singh was a favourite in wrestling tournaments in India. In addition to this, he wrestled on the invitation of the kings of various Indian princely states and wrestled frequently in haats and melas (fairs and carnivals). He also successfully competed against some of the greatest names in wrestling history, including Stanislaus Zbyszko and professional wrestlers in the United States. Upon his return to India he gained unprecedented popularity by having wrestling bouts across the country in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s, including a very popular series of matches with Lou Thesz in the late '60s. He then translated this to celluloid frame by making a large number of B-grade films which had him in the lead. One of his notable finds was the actress, Mumtaz. Then in the 1980s and 90s he moved to television, and he played the role of Hanuman in the television adaptation of the epic Ramayan. The series is amongst the most widely viewed in history. He has acted in over 100 films. He worked in the Hindi movie Jab We Met and the Punjabi movie Dil Apna Punjabi. He also worked in some television serial shows, the most notable being 'Had Kar Di', which was aired on Zee TV. Singh retired from active wrestling in 1983. In 1996, he was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.