Saturday, July 7, 2012

Legendary Dara Singh: Whatta man!




An article by Ingrid Albuquerque in the October 1976 Stardust paints a picture of a modest and gentle man who loves his wife and kids, and is proud of all he has accomplished with his hard work in the fields of wrestling and films. Here are some excerpts:
“…in films, Dara Singh has been a success. He makes B-grade films under the banner of Dara Productions…and almost all of them have made money. He has done more than a dozen films with Mumtaz, of whom he says: ‘Friends we are still.’
   His heroines these days are mainly Yogita Bali, Padma Khanna and Komilla Wirk. When I asked him why he did not act with the big heroines like Hema, he said: ‘Miss Hema has so far not expressed agreement to work with me.’ I asked him if he had not so far asked her and he said no and he could not ask unless he was sure of her agreement.”
“I asked him to put on any casual clothes for the pictures and he said: ‘Modern pants I have none.’ The wife suggested he should put on the trouser of ‘woh purana suit.‘ So he went in and came out wearing what I presume was that old suit’s trouser.
   The children, all five of them, were very excited…And they kept instructing him—’Pappa, look this side,’ ‘Pappa, smile.’ The wife (they’ve been married for 18 years and he obviously likes her. So do I) had a suggestion too: ‘Kyon ji, patloo seedhi kyon rakhhi hai?’…He took her advice promptly. I got the feeling he takes her advise on all issues.”
“I told the wife he was looking like a film star and she said: ‘Yes, yes, I want him to be that.’ She did not seem to be very happy with his being a wrestler. Though she attends most of his fights, she sits by the ringside with her eyes closed. She only opens them when she hears the crowd cheering. For when the crowd cheers, it means that Dara Singh has won again.”
So sweet he is!

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