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Dara Singh today is a character actor in some serials (including as Hanuman in Ramayana) and his son Vindoo, after being launched in a home production and failing at that, too played Hanuman in another serial.
Already famous as a wrestler and title-holder of `Rustom-E-Hind', Dara Singh made his first screen appearance in 'King Kong' (1962), directed by the King of special effects, Babubhai Mistry. He had a captive audience among the North Indian lovers of wrestling and free-style fighting. `King Kong' was a hit and a career began.
Though Dara Singh remained stuck to B-grade films because of the limitations he had, his films did good business. The list includes 'Rustom-E-Baghdad' (1962), 'Rustom-E-Rome' (1963) and 'Rustom-E-Hind'(1964), besides 'Aaya Toofan', 'Sher-E-Watan', 'Shankar Khan' and 'Balram Shri Krishan'.
He turned producer with 'Nanak Dukhiya Sab Sansar' and produced several Punjabi films. Though Singh got respectability as an actor with special appearances in RK Films' 'Dharam Karam' and 'Mera Naam Joker', it was Manmohan Desai who paid him an unusual compliment when he signed Dara Singh for 'Mard'. Said Desai, "Amitabh is playing the title role of Mard. I was wondering who could be his father if Amitabh plays Mard! Mard ka baap to Dara Singh hi ho sakta hai. This is why I took Dara Singh in the film." Singh, the strong man on the screen, is a mild mannered man in real life. These days he is doing TV serials .
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