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Dara Singh is best remembered for his role as Hanuman in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan but way before he played this popular role at 60, Dara Singh had had a career in the movies as a leading star. The world renowned professional wrestler started working as an actor just by chance, as he was offered a couple of roles upon his visits in Mumbai and Chennai, where most Indian films were made in those days but after he realised that this could be a lucrative career, he built it up with just as much passion. While Dara Singh’s films always found their audience, the mainstream cinema saw his films as ‘B-grade’ movies and his companion through these films was the then newcomer Mumtaz.
She shared that despite such towering screen presence, Dara Singh was “never taken seriously as an actor.” Mumtaz called him a “superstar of fantasy films” in a chat with Filmfare and said that casting her in Faulad in 1963 was a “turning point” in her career. They also worked together in films like Sikandar-E-Azam, Rustom E-Hind, and Daku Mangal Singh, among others.
Mumtaz shared that it was during this phase that they became the “highest paid B-grade” actors as he would get Rs 4 lakh per film, and she got Rs 2.5 lakh per film. “My role used to be very small, maybe a couple of romantic scenes and some songs (laughs). I still remember I used to get a remuneration of Rs 2.5 lakh, which was considered a big amount in those days,” she shared.
But, this association came to an end after Mumtaz was cast in Dilip Kumar-starrer Ram Aur Shyam. After that film, Mumtaz shifted to the big league and focused on her mainstream career. While it was rumoured that Dara Singh and Mumtaz had an affair during this era, neither of them ever spoke about it. Dara Singh passed away in 2012 at 83.
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