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When Ramanand Sagar was making the mega-serial Ramayana for Doordarshan, he wanted only Dara Singh to play the role of Hanuman. Dara Singh had already played the monkey god in the film Jai Bajrang Bali, but that was in his heyday. Now he was 60 and objected saying he was too old for the role. However, Sagar was adamant and convicted him that he was perfect for the role. Dara relented and it turned out to be the best role of his life. Dara had indeed come a long way from being a wrestler to an actor. As a wrestler, he defeated Hungarian King Kong in 1954 and won the Commonwealth title in 1959 and was world champion in 1968. Once among the audience was Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, whose schedule allowed him only 10 minutes but he stayed on for an hour. It was not long before Bollywood woke up to his celebrity status and decided to cash in on his brawn. Dara, who had seen only two films in his life, was offered a lead role in films. After a debut in Sangdil, Mahesh Bhatt’s father Nanabhai directed Dara in King Kong, which went on to be blockbuster. Dara became the original "action hero" who took pride in baring his chest. Bollywood capitalised on
his wrestler image in films like Samson, Hercules, Toofan, Aaya
Toofan, Thief of Baghdad, Ali Baba aur Chalis Chor and, of course,
Tarzan. Dara also acted in a number of Rustam movies, viz, Rustam-e-Hind,
Rustam-e-Rome, Rustam-e-Baghdad etc.
However, all his films were referred to as "B" on "C" grade. No top heroine was willing to work with a pehalwan who spoke Hindi with a Punjabi accent. In fact, when it came to the female lead for Samson, producer Sabarwal kept asking Dara his choice. Dara was too shy to say anything. On the sets was a dancer whose 14-year-old sister stood by watching the shoot. Sabarwal pointed at her and asked Dara if she was alright. Dara shrugged indicating assent. That launched the stellar career of Mumtaz. After Samson, Dara and Mumtaz became a hit pair and acted together in 16 films, including Jawan Mard, Raaka, Daku Mangat Singh, Boxer and Veer Bhimsen. Till today, Mumtaz is grateful to Dara Singh, whom she refers to as a "gentle giant", for giving her a break. Her sister Mallika is married to Dara’s brother Randhawa, and so Mumtaz is also related to him. Dara also started his home banner Dara Production, and made Nasihat with Balraj Sahni and Prithviraj Kapoor based on Partition and Mera Desh Mera Dharam on the creation of Bangladesh, with Raj Kapoor in the lead role. In all, he made 12 films under his banner with six of them in Punjabi. He made Karan to launch his son Vindoo. His other son Amrik is a businessman in Chandigarh. All three daughters are well-settled. Dara couldn’t have asked for more. He appeared in real life like the patriarch "Daarji" of Jab We Met, a man who seemed dominating, but was a gentle soul with a warm and outgoing nature.
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