He was a well-known wrestler before he started acting in Hindi films in 1962. Standing tall at 6’2” with rippling muscles this wrestler has been a part of cinema for many years and is known for his portrayal of Hanuman in Ramayana. He was trained in a type of wrestling called Pehlwani and has taken on wrestlers like Lou Thesz and Stanislaus Zbyszko.
Wrestling Career:
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". During the 1940's and 1950's, Dara Singh was a favourite in wrestling tournaments in India.
Wrestling Career:
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". During the 1940's and 1950's, Dara Singh was a favourite in wrestling tournaments in India.
In addition to this he wrestled on 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.
In May 1994 he was involved in a typical bit of 'professional' wrestling chicanery, in a match with a wrestler, imitating the WWE's 'Undertaker' (once the reigning champion of the American wrestling scene) in an IWF (Indian Wrestling Federation) championship match. The match was fixed between Baljit Singh and The Undertaker at Worli Mumbai's Vallabbhai Patel Stadium and the Referee for the match was an IWF official RATAN.
Throughout the match The Undertaker dominated Baljit Singh, but as the IWF would be humiliated if a foreigner defeated an Indian on Indian soil, Dara Singh along-with his brother entered the ring and helped Baljit win the match. Baljit was then awarded the IWF championship belt at a ceremony. The belt was sponsored by Hitsu Jewellers Worli Naka.
Filmy Career:
He then went on to 1980s and 90s television fame, when he played the role of Hanuman in the television adaptation of the epicRamayan. The series is amongst the most widely viewed in history.
He has acted in over 100 films. His latest Hindi movie isJab We Met and his latest Punjabi movie is Dil Apna Punjabi.He also acted in National Award winner film MAIN MAA PUNJAB DEE(Director Balwant Dullat).
He also worked in some television serial shows, most notable is 'Had Kar Di' which was aired on Zee TV.
He has two sons named Vindu Dara Singh and Amrik Singh and also 3 daughters. Vindu stays in Mumbai while Amrik stays in Chandigarh. Singh retired from active wrestling in 1983. [4] In 1996 he was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.
