India mourns Dara Singh’s death; wrestler-turn-actor will continue to inspire people at large

Thursday was observed as a day of mourning at Delhi's Chhatrasal Stadium to pay tribute to the man who brought the sport of wrestling to the centrestage, says a report in Mail Today.

A father-figure to wrestlers, Dara Singh regularly visited dangals and was an inspiration for the youngsters. "I can vividly recall my first meeting with him right after the 1972 Olympics. I was so impressed. The way he had maintained his body was inspiring for youngsters like us," Satpal Singh, who won the gold medal at the 1982 Asian Games, reminisced.

Dara Singh was ecstatic when Sushil Kumar won bronze at the Beijing Olympics and gold at the World Championship. "He told Sushil that he should perform the same way in London and return with a medal," Satpal said.

Meanwhile a report in Hindustan Times says that Punjab mourns the loss of another one of its legends, actor Dara Singh, who passed away in Mumbai on Thursday morning at the age of 83. The glorious journey of the world-famous wrestler from Amritsar turned larger-than-life actor, who succumbed to a cardiac arrest, will continue to inspire Indians at large.

According to HT report, Chandigarh-based veteran journalist Nirupama Dutt says, "He was one of the first successful Punjab-bred actors in Bollywood. When one thinks of Ramayana's Lord Hanumana (a series on DD), Dara Singh's is the first image that pops into one's head."

The legend was the first successful action hero of Bollywood (in the'60s and '70s), and was famous for his hits with one of his discoveries back then, actor Mumtaz. "When Dara ji entered the industry, he was a successful professional wrestler. He swayed the audience with his brawny looks, coupled with his acting skills, which were evident in the different characters he played in over 100 Hindi and regional movies," says Kamal Tiwari, Chandigarh-based theatre artiste, who played the role of Dara Singh's son in their 2007 hit, Jab We Met - Dara Singh's last Bollywood movie.

Meanwhile a media report says that champion wrestler turned actor Dara Singh’s unreleased movie “Gabhru Des Punjab De” is due to release this October and would see him in his real life character. The movie produced and directed by Jaswinder Cheema is themed around wrestling, something which he has been revered for.

The movie is the last time anyone would see the great man appearing on the big screen. Singh, who before turning into an actor was a renowned wrestler and was awarded with coveted Rustam-E-Hind title, passed away on Thursday due to a cardiac arrest and would be seen playing the role of a Ustad in the akhara trying to train two wrestlers.

According to the reports, the production for the movie finished three months back and is and the director got the inspiration to make a film only when he was shooting Rustam-E-Hind movie with Dara Singh. The movie is all set to be dedicated to him.