Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Dara Singh, King Kong, Flash Gordon

Many did not believe the names of the top wrestlers that I had given in a previous post. Some associated King Kong with a gorilla which was in a film that appeared much later than the actual history of this giant in the wrestling ring.

There was much interest in the three top wrestlers of the 1950's. I have located some data on the internet.

It is important to mention the referee who used to be in the ring with these wrestlers. His name was Wong Bok Lee. Some believe he is the same as Wong Bok Chong, but I had not heard this as I remember him clearly as Lee. He used the Flying Drop Kick to control wrestlers in the ring if they did not listen to him.

One of the most exciting fights I saw, the lighter Dara Singh lifted the almost 200 kg King Kong over his head and was twirling him round and round. King Kong was yelling at the referee that this was not in the rules. When the referee tried to come and stop this Dara Singh virtually threw King Kong out of the ring and he fell just a few feet from us. Was he mad. he jumped up, rushed into the ring and tried to attack the referee - who drop-kicked him out of the ring!!

Wrestler: Dasho Dara Singh
Dara Singh from a film poster

Dara Singh from a film poster

Real Name: Dara Singh Randhawa
Hometown: Village Dharmuchak, Distt. Amritsar (Punjab)
Marital Status: Surjit Kaur Randhawa (1961)
Height & Weight: 188 cm (6' 2") and over 130 kg
Debut: 1951
Finishing Move: Body slam
Favorite Moves: Overhead whirl
Notable Feuds: Professional Indian Wrestling Championship in 1953,
Commonwealth Wrestling Championship in 1959 by defeating Canadian Champion “Flash Gordon” George Godianko
World Wrestling Championship in 1968 by defeating Lou Theze of America;
Birthday: 19 November 1928

Wrestler: "King Kong"
King Kong at his prime
King Kong at his prime

Real name: Emile Czaja (pronounced shya)
Hometown: Sydney Australia
Marital Status: Married to Ellie (1956)
Height & Weight: 183 cm (6') - over 182 kg (400lbs)
Debut: 1937 in India
Gimmicks: Brute behaviour, Evil man, ...
Notable Feuds: Dara Singh, "Sheik" Wadi Ayoub
Died: 1970 (Car crash)

Wrestler: Flash Gordon" (also known as Wonder Boy, Firpo Zyzbsko)
Flash Gordon was in several exciting battles with King Kong and Dara Singh
Flash Gordon was in several battles with King Kong and Dara Singh

Real name: George Gordienko
Hometown: Winnipeg, Canada
Height and weight: Over 182 cm (6') and over 130 kg
Famous for: Flying drop kick, even when being held by opponent!
Notable fueds: Dara Singh, Bhu Pinder
Born: 1904
Died: 1974 (Melonama cancer)

We used to go outside the hotels where they use to live just to see the food being served to these enormous men, who, to us small kids, looked like giants.

King Kong used to swallow chickens by the dozens. Dara Singh used to eat an enormous number of chapatis.

The myths that were told us by the press agents made them seem to be invincible men, so to see them fighting in the ring was like watching two invincibles trying to destroy each other.

Of course, we did not know, then, that the fights were all fixed!

43 comments:

  1. hi
    i am a huge dara singh fan. i enjoyed your blog. if you can share any info on dars wrestling career available on any website i can refer to, other blogs, etc, i would greatly appreciate it! thanks,k

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  2. Anonymous11:29

    Cheer up All Indians Its time to feel proud of something cool. (htt://www.greatkhali.net)
    The Great Khali( Dalip Singh) ...an Indian who is rocking at WWE. I bet u will get knocked off after seein his pics.......i think that this is what they meant by Giants in d fairy tales....
    Height 7 feet 3 inches.
    Weight -423 pounds

    http://www.greatkhali.net

    http://greatkhali.net/the_great_khali_photo_gallery_wallpapers.htm

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  3. hi jacob great information, but i just thought i'd let you know that there are two dara singh's one the actor and the other is the wrestler. Amit has also sent you this information. i have a picture of the real dara singh, as he is my uncle. if you'd like this picture for your blog please contact me on info@gtroad.plus.com

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  4. Mahabir,

    I never knew about the film star Dara Singh. (I am not a Hindi film fan.) So is the picture I haveon the blog the wrestler or the film star.

    The blog and my grandson would love a picture of the Real Dara Singh!

    I do not appreciate the wrestling on TV. Real life stuff as we saw in the 50's was exciting because of the charisma of the wrestlers.

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  5. Hi Jacob,
    Nice to read mention of Dara Singh in your blog. Somebody out there mentions there are two Dara Singhs, the Actor and the wrestler. Living in India, I can vouch that both are one and the same. Dara Singh started out as a local wrestler, attained fame as a professional wrestler when this form was still popular in India and later turned to films. He has around 100 ordinary movies to his credit. Despite his immensely handsome looks and phenomenal presence, he was handicapped by his thick punjabi accent and ordinary acting skills. His most famous potrayal has been that of Lord Hanuman (Indian monkey god of strength) on the blockbuster television series "Mahabharata" somewhere in 1990s. Now he has turned producer.
    And yes, like you said, i too was disappointed to know that fights of Dara Singh, King Kong et al were fixed, so in the real sense they cant be called world champions.
    If you like real facts, check out for a real legend named the "Great Gama". He fought in a time when wrestling was still real, is probably the only wrestler nobody ever defeated in 5000 bouts. He defeated Zbyzko and Benjamin "Doc" Roller when they were in their prime (Zbyszko later on fought with Dara Singh in apparently fixed matches for he was old and needed the money), Frank Gotch avoided fighting him. These fights were all fought before "fixed matches" started.
    If there was any great modern Indian wrestler who was truly a real champion in every way, it was without doubt The Great Gama.

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  6. Hi Jacob,
    My father was the general manager of the wrestling federation for a couple of years in the 1950s. We were in Madras, and I remember all the wrestlers who regularly visited us.
    You can add a few more names that I remember: Ali Reza Bei, Andre Cotula, Kid Zamboa, Baron Von Hekzi, Tiger Ray Holden, & The Russian Bear- George Szybisco.
    I have quite a few fond memories of these guys, but our closest friend was Uncle KK (King Kong), who gave me my first child's tea set,and my little brother, one of those toy cars you could get into. they used to practise their moves upstairs in our large terrace and were very friendly and kind to us as kids.

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  7. Hi all:

    My dad told me when i was a kid about TWO dara's who were contemporaries and great wrestlers. One ( the movie Dara) is called Dara DHRAMUCAHKIA ( fm village Dharmuchak) and other, lesser known but equally great ( my Dad, Grand Dad and muy uncle used to say, actually better one) was called DARA DULCHIPURIA ( from village Dulchipur).They never wrestled each other. Howver, Dulchipuria did challenge movie Dara but this Dara never took it up. Movie dara being better looking and younger made it to movies, became famous and rich. Dulhipuria, the old soul, went to jail for vendettta killing, and languished there until mature age when an Englishman noticed him as a great wrestler while peforming in jail and secured his relase. But Dulchipuria's career was finished. he is only known ( now very dimily, almost forgotten) as someone who challenegd the Movie Dara, and shared his name. A sad story but this is life. The story is true becacsue it came form my Granddad ( died at 110 years), my uncle ( died at 60) who were both professional rural wrestlers. My Dad ( a retired Indian army Officer) tells the same story. I tried looking for Dulchipuria on internet. I am sure if u look into the records of Dulchipur you will find this Dara, - almost a legend, a forgotten old legend!

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  8. Hi Nawab,
    This is true that there were two Dara Singh one Dara singh which turned actor and other one Dara Singh Dulchipuria from village Dulchipura near Tarn Taran in District Amritsar.He was great friend of my grandfather.He was great wrestler never lost any bout.He was not happy at Actor Dara Singh for fixing his fights with foreign wrestlers while Dara Singh Dulchipuria(a.k.a Killer Dara Singh) was languishing in jail for killing two persons to revenge his brother's murder.It was after Russian President Khrushchev saw his wrestling bout ,which Dara Singh won,during his visit to India and recommended Jawahar Lal Nehru to release him and He was released.He even served in Malaysian army for a brief period.Thereafter He fought with many great wrestlers and never lost any bout.In his old age He fell down & fractured his hip and got bed ridden.He died a death of forgotten hero in the abscence of any recognition and help from the government though He was cremated with state honour at his village and his belts and prizes along with his photos were taken by district administration from his family to be kept at some museum at Amritsar.

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  9. Anonymous20:13

    ACTUALLY , MAHABIR U R WRONG. THE WRESTLER AND ACTOR DARA SINGH ARE THE SAME PERSONS. HE HAS WRESTLED ALL OVER THE WORLD AND HAS DEFEATED THE CHAMPIONS IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES. KNOWN AS GENTLEMAN DARA SINGH AND AN ACTOR WHO RETIRED UNDEFEATED IN 1983.HIS LAST FIGHT WAS AT INDRAPRASTH STADIUM- DELHI IN THE PRESENCE OF THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA DR.GYANI ZAIL SINGH WHO GAVE HIM THE WINNING TROPHY. HE JOINED FILMS IN 1961 AS A HERO AND WORKED IN MORE THAN 100 FILMS AS A LEADING MAN AND TILL NOW HE HAS COMPLETED MORE THAN 200 FILMS. THOUGH SOME CRITICS CALLED HIM AN AVERAGE ACTOR, HIS PERSONALITY AND FAN FOLLOWING THROUGHOUT THE WORLD IS SO HUGE, THAT HE HAS GIVEN THE MAXIMUM HITS. FOR THE RECORD THAT NONE OF HIS PRODUCER HAS EVER LOST MONEY ON HIS FILMS. HIS B'DAY IS ON 19TH OF NOV. AND THIS MONTH WHEN HE WILL COMPLETE HIS 80TH YEAR HE'S STILL VERY MUCH IN DEMAND. HE HAS ALSO PRODUCED AND DIRRECTED 12 FILMS IN HINDI AND PUNJABI. FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO FILMS AND SPORTS, HE WAS NOMINATED AS A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT(UPPERHOUSE) BY THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA. HIS TERM AS A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT IS STILL RUNNING. THOUGH HE RETIRED IN 1983, INDIA AND THE WORLD STILL HASN'T PRODUCED A WRESTLER OF HIS CALIBER AND POPULARITY.HANDSOME TO THE CORE, GENTLEMAN AND SOFT SPOKEN HE'S A LEGEND YOU RARELY SEE. THERE WAS ANOTHER WRESTLER B THE NAME OF DARA SINGH DULCHIPURIA, TO WHOM THE CHAMPION DARA SINGH DEFEATED TWICE. THE CHAMPION AND THE FILMSTAR DARA SINGH REVIVED THE TREND OF ACTION FILMS IN INDIA WHICH WAS ALMOST DEAD AT THE TIME WHEN HE STEPPED IN FILMS. BECAUSE IF HIM AND HIS ACTION FILMS, LOT OF HIS CONTEMPORARY WRESTLERS FROM THE WORLD GOT SMALL ROLES IN HINDI FILMS AND MADE GOOD MONEY. HE IS STILL ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED NAMES IN THE FILM INDUSTRY. HE WAS THE VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIAN MOTION PICTURE PRODUCER'S ASSOCIATION(IMPPA) FOR MANY YEARS AND AT PRESIDENT IS PRESIDENT OF CINE AND T.V ARTISTES ASSOCIATION OF INDIA(CINTAA). HE'S ALSO THE PRESIDENT OF ALL INDIA JAT SAMAJ. GOD BLESS HIM AND GIVE HIM A LONG AND HEALTHY LIFE. FOR ANY INFO. ON HIM, YOU CAN READ HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN HINDI AND PUNJABI. MY FATHER IS WRITING HIS BIOGRAPHY IN ENGLISH. FOR ANY MORE INFORMATION ON HIM, YOU CAN WAIT FOR THE BOOK.

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  10. i have read somwhere that dara singh is a muslim.with an islamic sounding name .i have a bet with someone.do i win or lose/i shall know only after you reply.do help me out jacob.

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  11. please tell me as to whether dara singh was a muslim.

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  12. hi
    if you want to know everyting about Dara singh then you should surly read auto biography of Dara singh its name is" meri atma khata Dara singh."

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  13. I heard a lot about Dara Singh and King King fight by my father and I am great fan of this Indian legend. This is the first time that I found something good info about these two together. Thanks for such blog its very good.

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  14. "espoir said...
    My father was the general manager of the wrestling federation for a couple of years in the 1950s"

    ESPOIR, COULD YOU PLEASE CONTACT ME ON
    the_cosmic5@hotmail.com
    AS I WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS WITH YOU ABOUT YOUR FATHER AND THE INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING FEDERATION OF INDIA. I KNEW KING KONG.

    REGARDS

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  15. anybody remembers goldstein who acted with fearless nadia in a hindi movie?

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  16. Anonymous15:08

    dear anxietyprone,
    dara singh is not a muslim,
    he is a proper sikh and his surname is 'Randhawa'.
    thanks

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  17. Anonymous15:08

    I would be glad to help you out with Dara Singh.

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  18. Anonymous15:11

    Dara Singh's pics are easy to get and are quite interesting as he has the hugest wing muscles and the most muscular thighs.

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  19. I was telling my son about Dara Singh but then I had a doubt about his true accomplishments.

    I felt proud to read, on your page,that he was a world champion - and the real thing. Gee, if a biography has not been written then it should be because he matched his skills against the best in the world - and often won.

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  20. hi folks,
    I have gone through the blog of Mr.jacob.Thanks Mr.Jacob for starting it.DARA SINGH IS A LIVING LEGEND AND AS USUAL LOT OF THINGS, TRUE AND SOME TIMES UNBELEIVABLEARE ARE ATTACHED WITH THE NAME OF LEGENDS.
    To clear all the doubts about this legendary wrestler DARA SINGH RANDHAWA AND TO PRESENT ALL THE DETAILS OF HIS GREAT LIFE I WILL BE WRITING A BOOK ON HIM VERY SOON.
    I will be covering his life from his childhood till today,with lot of photographs,paper cuttings and some of the best interviews with the people who know him better than us.I will appriciate if any on can send me his wrestling photograpgs of the period between 1950 to 1960.....thanks.....
    ratan aulakh
    you can contact me on
    ratanaulakh@gmail.com

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  21. Anonymous01:36

    Dara Dulchipuria and Dara the movie star are two different persons. Dara Dulchipuria was born 1918 in village Dulchipur near Tarn Taran in Amritsar District of Punjab, India. He was older than Dara Singh Randhawa the movie star by about 11 years. Dara Dulchipuria (Full name Dara Singh Sidhu), though did not read and write but was given a job in the Police Force by the British in Malaya due to his wrestling skills as a Lance Corporal. He was later promoted to Sub Inspector. Dara Dulchipuria is the guy who actually beat King Kong and break his leg. It was not Dara Singh the movie star but Dara Dulchipuria who threw him out of the ring. This information is all in a book "Gumnam Champion" meaning Unknown Champion, published by Chetna Prakashan, Ludhiana. Dara Dulchiparia appeared in two movies and died an unknown person in 1988.

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  22. never saw dara singh wrestle.but saw king kong,bert assirati, bill verna, killer kowalski, mad dog vachon and the bholu brothers.never knew it was entertainment rather than sport.loved it though.

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  23. hi jacob

    i would like to add to ur knowledge as few in their comments had done it . there were actually two dara singhs. the picture in ur blog shows the one who is more a tv star then actor.. very few knew about the real dara singh the wrestler. the real dara singh stood above 7 feet

    he was known as dara dulchipuria

    the 8 comment by nawab,, is very right ,, it gives the right information !!

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  24. Hi Amit,

    Sorry to say that you are not quite correct about Dara Singh's size. I watched him fight almost every day in 1952 or 1953 as my dad was the in the Bangalore (then Mysore) Electricity Department and got free passes for the fights in Sampagie Stadium. I saw Dara Singh closer than most would have seen him as he sat next to us when he was waiting to enter the ring. Sometimes it was King Kong or Flash Gordon or the Masked Angel that sat next to us. Dara Singh was nowhere near 7 foot tall. He was extremely well built unlike King Kong who had huge bulk. Dara Singh was a very natural fighter and he smiled and talked to people whereas King Kong just gave us nasty snarls. All part of the act. Both were master actors and put on a great show. Dara was always well oiled so he literally shone under the bright lights. King Kong was made to look white and pale. Goodie / Baddie image! Those were the days - great childhood ,memories where we actually believed they were wrestling!!! :-).

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  25. Dear all,

    I have verified that the facts given in my original post is correct. Wrestler Dara )whom I saw fight every other night in 1952-53 in Bangalore is my height 6" ' 2" and he weighed 130 kg. King Kong was only 6' but weighed 180 kg. The 7' tall Dara is just a myth. That must have been the then Bollywood hype!

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  26. hi jacob,it is for all the readers of your blog.Dara singh the film star is a real champion.if the readers wants to end there suspense about real dara singh then they should watch dara singh"s film SAMSON.....DARA SINGH DULCHIPURIA IS ALSO IN THE FILM DOING A SMALL ROLE.A fight with the champion dara singh ,hero of the film...A tall man with a golden tooth fighting with the champion dara singh in the jungle is DARA DULCHIPURIA.......FOR MORE DETAILS ,WAIT FOR MY BOOK.....GURRATAN SINH AULAKH

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  27. Hello once again
    I m so shocked to see that people out there know about the true Dara Singh

    DARA SINGH DULCHIPURIA was married to my father’s elder sister
    His name was Dara Singh Sandhu
    He is the one who fought all the brave fight which we all read about
    He was ask to appear in some films, which he did
    He felt embarrassed starring with young girl so told the film maker to take one of his trainees whom were DARA SINGH RANDHAWA. The teacher had given his name to the student to use……and also appeared with him by public demand
    You have to remember there was a 10 year gap between the two
    Every thing you have read about the Dara Singh Killer is true
    The family had lost their fortune in trying to free him from hanging,
    Yes….. Killing two men. Each ones head in each one of his arm till their last breath had expired ( wow that is some strength)
    My father’s parent departed from Singapore in a hurry once they heard Dara Singh had been arrested leaving my farther behind with family friends (way of saving cost)
    Not knowing that they would loose all their wealth in the court cases to come and not have enough money to unite with their son
    He was not a wrestler with techniques nor was he educated
    But would wrestle with the brute strength from within
    Last time I saw him was in 1980
    He was a tall old man in his 70’s who would get onto his gurie (horse) and ride to the farm from the village with his feet almost dragging on the dirt track
    Amazing end to a great legend
    The Indian government heard of his death.
    They immediately send government members to the cremation
    Only in the last few years the government have knowledge this great man
    And decision to erect a tribute is taking place

    Sorry I have got a little personal, but you all have touched me
    I felt I needed to express this

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  28. Marbs, COULD YOU PLEASE CONTACT ME ON the_cosmic5@hotmail.com
    AS I WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS WITH YOU ABOUT DARA SINGH DULCHIPURIA.

    The first Dara Singh was 7ft tall and was later known as Killer Dara Singh. He started his career around 1945.

    The second one was Chota (means little)Dara Singh who was 6ft1" tall and started his career in 1950 in Singapore. he was the one who was the Bollywood star.

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  29. The Best One .........Reallly.......He is one and only of this type..............


    Great Dara Singh

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  30. Lots of thanks, brother Jacob. That you told about the Legends King Kong and Dara Singh. I have saved this page to show my friends and others. So kind of you.

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  31. Anonymous18:52

    I am sorry I can't inform anything about the murderer dara singh, But whenever you need to know about the Real World Champion, wrestling hall of fame bearer and iconic bollywood actor Dara Singh (whose real surname is "randhawa") You can mail me!

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  32. Anonymous18:54

    Dara Singh is also the ex-member of Indian Parliament, I feel the need to post this!

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  33. Yes, I have reported on this already on the blog. I think he is no more a member of the Rajya Sabha but he served with distinction and took a lot of interest in Sports.

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  34. tell me about which place & year dara singh & king kong fight.

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  35. King Kong vs dara Singh. Sampangie stadium, Bangalore 1952 or 1953. Most probably 1953! I was 9 or 10 years old at that time.

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  36. Sorry, but I used my wife's email ID to post my reply. I am Jacob, her name is PEACE!!

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  37. Hi Jacob

    great write up..my mother has a lot of photos from this era. Her father was the promoter of wrestling in Bombay in the 50's.

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  38. Hello Everybody..
    Yes Offcourse Dulchipuriya was the real Dara singh and My GrandDa also told me about that. Many Buzurgs(Old Men) of my village are still talks about dara singh of 5 Mann (1 Mann = 40 Kg) I dunno what the exactly weight wa but they says it was 180 Kg.

    I have found another page explaining Full Information to clear confusions about Killer Dara Singh Sidhu and Dara Singh Randhawa. But it is in Chinese :-/ or any other language i couldnt understand. Please have a look over this link

    http://www.showapuroresu.com/file/file56.htm

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  39. Love your Blog, Jacob.

    I was a sickly six year old. When my grandfather heard that Dara Singh was coming to Kanpur to participate in a wrestling tournament, he carried me all the way to Green Park and got Dara Singh to place his hand upon my head. I still remember the light feeling of that heavy hand on my forehead, and the words "Puttar, Sehat bana" (Sonny, put on some weight!). As long as I stayed in Kanpur, I never missed a fight that Dara Singh participated in ... King Kong, Flash Gordon et al.

    Yes, I remember witnessing the fight at Kanpur where Dara Singh broke King Kong's leg. He also whirled Flash Gordon above his head and the threw him to the ground with such force that his mask was suffused with blood from his wound.

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  40. A BIG man with an even BIGGER heart ....RIP, Dara Singh!

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  41. Now that former Member of the Rajya Sabha, unbeaten wrestler, actor. film producer, film director, Hanuman in Mahabharata, Dara Singh has passed away, I think that we should try not mixing up the two Dara Singhs! I had never heard of the murderer Dara Singh before it got mentioned on my blog. All the details provided by me on my blog about the "real" Dara Singh I knew are correct and checked and double checked. The fights I saw Dara Singh in were all in Bangalore.

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  42. I used Google Translate to see what the Chinese language site was all about. It was highly confused and I could not make out what was being said. Anyway, stay on my site as that is where all the authentic information is. (The Chinese language site sends you back to my site, anyway!) If you have any original Posters or Photographs about any of these top wrestlers, send them to me and I will share them with these real die-hard old world wrestling fans, of which I am one!

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  43. Barry ASpi, could you please contact me on
    the_cosmic5@hotmail.com
    , regarding your mother's father, who was the wrestling promoter of the International Wrestling Federation, which had the office in Madras.

    Look forward to hearing from you.

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