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Rustam-e-Des
Punjab Dara Singh 1928-2012
Dara Singh in Nairobi. 1962. Pictures
by Ajit Singh Chaggar Amarjit Chandan collection
ara Singh Randhawa, who has
died aged 84, was a wrestler turned film actor. He started as a
professional wrestler before he went into Hindi films in 1962. He was
nominated member of Rajya Sabha upper
house of Indian parliament by right wing Hindu Bhartiya Janata Party during 2003–2009. He had a happy childhood
living in a village community in Dharmuchak near Amritsar. He had amrit Sikh baptism when he was a young boy and at the age of 16 he
got married. He went to Singapore in 1947 to join his father. He started
working in a drum-making factory in an island near Singapore. He under the
watchful eye of a mochi Harnam
Das of Jalandhar practised wrestling and eventually became the Champion of
Malaya (Indian style wrestling) by defeating Tarlok Singh in Kuala Lumpur
on the Vaisakhi day in 1951. He returned to India the following year and
became the Indian Champion in 1954 later to win two coveted titles Rustam-e-Punjab in 1966 and Rustam-e-Hind in
1978. For his
dialogue delivery in rustic Majhee Punjabi accent, Dara Singh
contributed to the healthy Sikh humour. He became butt of jokes. The
classic being: his Hindi language coach after giving him lessons lost
his own language and started speaking Punjabi fluently like him He successfully competed
against some of the greatest names in wrestling. He toured all
Commonwealth countries and defeated Oriental Champion King Kong, George
Gordienko (Canada), John Desilva (New Zealand) and numerous more. He
became the Commonwealth Champion in 1959. He also defeated Lou Thesz (USA)
and became Champion of the World in May 1968. He again visited countries
worldwide and defended title of the World Champion. He retired from the
wrestling arena in 1983, undefeated. Rajiv Gandhi inaugurated his last
tournament in June 1983 in Delhi, where he announced his retirement and
Giani Zail Singh presented the winning trophy. In 1996 he was inducted
into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall Dara Singh had over 500
professional fights to his credit all undefeated. His top fights included
Champion of Pakistan Majid Akra, Shane Ali and Tariq Ali (West Punjab),
Prince Kumali (Champion of Africa), Japanese Great Rikidozan, European
Champion Bill Robinson, Champion of England Pat Roach, David Taylor, Danny
Lynch, Man Mountain Jack, Caswell Jack, George Burgers, Sky Hi, Lee and
innumerable more. He was the only professional who has defeated all his
rival champions in their
Ray Apollon of West Indies knocked out by Dara Singh of the Punjab in
Nairobi. 1962 He remained as the Action
King of Bombiyaa films of the 1960s and 1970s, and believed to have
started the trend of taking the shirt off. He made a large number of Hindi films,
which had him in the lead. One of his notable finds was the actress Mumtaz with whom he had performed in 16 films. He then went
on to television in the 1980s where he played the role of Hanuman in the television adaptation of the Hindu epic Ramayan. His latest Punjabi movie was Dil Apna Punjabi
(2006) and his last Hindi movie being Jab We Met (2007). For his dialogue delivery
in rustic Majhee Punjabi accent, he contributed much to the healthy Sikh
humour. He became butt of jokes. The classic being: his Hindi language
coach after giving him lessons lost his own language and started speaking
Punjabi fluently like him.
Cover of Meri
Atam Katha My Life Story (1990) His engaging autobiography
in Punjabi Meri Atam Katha (Navyug
1990) was liked by discerning readers. It is written with rigorous honesty
rarely seen even in the memoirs of well-known Punjabi authors. In the early eighties
Indira Gandhi had introduced the celebrity centred Reagan model in
politics. Popular film actors nominated to Rajya Sabha still are
apolitical showpieces. During his tenure in Parliament Dara Singh hardly
made any speech. Being a Randhawa jat, more recently he as president of All India Jat Mahasabha
was
active in the campaign for recognition of jat as a backward caste for
positive discrimination in the job market. This was once deemed
unimaginable in the pre-corporate capitalist times.
His wife Surjit and their three daughters and two sons survive him.
Dara Singh's interview by Ratnakar Bhartiya in Hindustani recorded in London in 1971 http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/ Dara
Singh wrestler, film actor, director and producer born November 19 1928
Dharmuchak, Amritsar; died Mumbai July 12 2012
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