Dara Singh started acting in 1952 and was the first sportsman to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha of India.
22 Facts About Dara Singh
2.
Dara Singh worked as Hindi and Punjabi film producer, director and writer, and he acted in films and television.
3.
Dara Singh is known for his undefeated worldwide streak in wrestling and later being a successful movie star.
4.
Dara Singh came to Singapore in 1947, where he worked in a drum-manufacturing mill and began his wrestling training under Harnam Singh in the Great World Stadium.
5.
In 1951, Dara Singh lost a match in Greeco Roman Style with Brahmdev Mishra of Gorakhpur in stadium located at Dahrmtalla maidan Culcutta.
6.
In 1954 Dara competed in the Rustam-e-Hind tournament where he won the final by defeating Tiger Joginder Singh and received a silver cup from Maharaja Hari Singh.
7.
Dara Singh started his career as an actor in 1952 with Sangdil.
8.
Dara Singh was a stunt film actor for many years and played his first lead role in Babubhai Mistry's film King Kong.
9.
The couple became the highest-paid B-grade actors, with Dara Singh receiving nearly four lakh rupees per film.
10.
Dara Singh then went on to do television in the late 1980s, where he played the role of Hanuman in the television adaptation of the Hindu epic Ramayan.
11.
Dara Singh starred as Bhima in various Mahabharata movies, besides playing Balram, he starred as Shiva in various theological movies.
12.
Dara Singh acted in National Award-winning film Main Maa Punjab Dee directed by Balwant Singh Dullat.
13.
Dara Singh directed seven Punjabi films including Sawa Lakh Se Ek Ladaun, Nanak Dukhiya Sub Sansar, Dhyanu Bhagat and Rab Dian Rakhan.
14.
Dara Singh directed two films in Hindi; Bhakti Mein Shakti and Rustom, which were produced and directed under the banner "Dara Film" which he set up in 1970.
15.
Dara Singh acted as a wrestler named Dara Singh in a Malayalam film Mutharam Kunnu.
16.
Dara Singh served in that role between 2003 and 2009.
17.
Singh's son Vindu Dara Singh, launched first comic book The Epic Journey of the Great Dara Singh at Oxford Bookstore in New Delhi in February 2019.
18.
Dara Singh had three sons and three daughters, including Parduman and Vindu Dara Singh.
19.
Dara Singh was admitted into Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on 7 July 2012 following a massive heart attack.
20.
Dara Singh was discharged from hospital on 11 July 2012, citing that nothing can be done to prolong life, and died the next day at his home in Mumbai.
21.
In 1996 Dara Singh was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.
22.
In 2016, Dara Singh was included in the list India's top wrestlers of all time.