Newsmaker

Tough man, soft heart
The Rustom-E-Hind (wrestling champion of India) who went on to become the Rustom-E-Zamaan (champion of the world) and then suddenly, unexpectedly came to films as an actor and made it as a phenomenon and gradually made it as a studio owner in Punjab and produced his own films which were some of the most ambitious films ever made in Punjab and finally took to directing his own films both in Hindi and Punjabi, created one more unprecedented record recently, when he shot for a record number of all the working days during 1999 and the days that have passed till now and is still going strong. And all this when he is all set to be 75. And his diary shows no break, no respite for another two years atleast! The only breaks he has had in recent times are the breaks that have been forced on him, the second Sundays when there is no work done in Mumbai, the festival holidays and the national holidays. Any other man in his place would have gone crazy by now, lying on the couch of a psychiatrist. But this man was no ordinary man. This was Dara Singh, the man who is symbolised with power and strength unparalleled even at this stage.

The 70-plus, handsome wrestler-turned-actor-filmmaker who can still take on some of the best bouts he has fought all over the world during the last 50 years is now fully into films and talks and walks and keeps on working only to get better and better even at his age. There are times when he is surprised how, he, a wrestler, took to acting by accident somewhere in the ’60s and has gone through a whole gamut of games in the name of filmmaking and has lasted to this day when he is at times more active than he was when he was at his peak. Says the ever-so-humble and soft-spoken Dara Singh: "It is all like one endless dream. I never even thought or even dreamed that I would make a successful career in films. I did my first film, King Kong somewhere in the beginning of the ’60s just to give it a try but for the life of me I never knew that Dara Singh would still last even after 35 years as an active man interested in films. My first film was a very big hit and soon I didn’t know what was happening. There was a line-up of producers outside my small flat, all of them wanting me to do their films as a leading man. I enjoyed this new chapter in my life. I accepted anything and everything that came to me. I did two and three and sometimes even four shifts in a day. There were times when I had seven releases on one day in Mumbai and all of them were very big hits. I had one entire film named after me, Dara Singh. I played the superman for over three decades and I was getting bored playing the same wrestling roles in film after film. I thought of taking interest in Punjabi films. The industry in Punjab was almost dying. All the filmmakers who made small-time Punjabi films fled the scene and went looking for greener pastures in Mumbai or just gave up making Punjabi films. I realised that almost the entire industry in Mumbai was being run by Punjabis and the sad thing was that these very Punjabis were not interested in making any kind of films in Punjabi. I decided to do something about it seriously. I took the lead by building my own studio in Punjab. I then started producing films in Punjabi. I also made all-out efforts to inspire and influence other filmmakers and well-wishers to make films in Punjabi. My plans slowly worked and I was very happy to see the Punjabi industry flourish, slowly but certainly. It could have made much more progress if that murderous chapter which involved the terrorists had not come in the way. It affected the Punjabi industry very badly and even took away one of the most promising young Punjabi director, Veerender, who was killed ruthlessly while he was shooting. Neither the police nor any all-knowing force have been able to find out why a sensitive filmmaker like Veerender should have been shot when the whole state was going mad. It was a very sad chapter in the history of Punjabi history. Things, however, got better with time and the Punjabi film industry too gradually made efforts to stand on its own feet. The help of the Punjab government also helped in a great way. My studio which was lying idle also started working again. I was also very busy doing some of the best character roles in Hindi films and working with some of the best directors in some very good films. At times I wondered what good I must have done to gain so much at this age when I should be retiring and playing with my grandchildren. The directors from Mumbai still believed that I was the only actor who suited certain characters. And I didn’t have the heart to say no to them. In between all my hectic activities I produced Karan, a film in Hindi to launch my son, Vindoo. But all the efforts we made together didn’t work."

Then again something entirely unexpected happened to the strong man who had fans among some of the greatest stars and directors. He was already a big star on television after he played Lord Hanuman in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan. He also had the record of playing Hanuman again in Veer Hanuman a major ambitious multi-crore television serial. It was Sachin the director who first showed signs of madness. He saw in Dara Singh one of the best comedians. It was almost like blasphemy to think of the ex-supremo and Lord Hanuman as the daily life character who evoked laughter at every step. How could Dara Singh play a comedian? That was one question which became an all-India "issue". The comedian in Dara Singh, however, continued to be flooded with any number of serials which he found difficult to turn down just because of his soft, sensitive and sincere nature. He is now doing serials which are on the air. He is also doing any number of pilots whose makers say: "So what if you don’t have the time now? You tell us when you want to start and we will start but we will not make the serial without you." It is sentences like these that move the man-mountain to behave like a child. Saying no is not in his nature. And the more I think of Dara Singh at 70-plus the more I wonder what the man is upto, what he is gifted with because news just comes that he, who had given up direction for quite some time, has taken up direction again and is directing a Hindi-Punjabi film, Balle-Balle America which will be shot in parts in America.

There are times when Dara Singh tries to find time to think of his age but then time snatches away even that gift from him too. So, he has decided to stop thinking about age and other things which come in the way of work which could leave memories for years to come. Today at 70-plus Dara is a totally contented man. He could have been sitting and planning or just relaxing which most men who have lived an actors life throughout live resting. But that would not be Dara Singh. He has just completed writing his autobiography too. What stuff is this man made of? Will anyone tell me? The winner will get a chance to take on Dara Singh in a bout at this age and Dara Singh, I am sure, will win.

Legends like Dara Singh are created by the Almighty as examples for other ordinary beings to learn atleast something from. And the sooner we the lucky ones of this generation learn from legends like Dara Singh the better.

APJ