Naseeruddin Shah says he watched all Dara Singh movies as a kid: ‘Ek film kitni buri ho sakti hai’

Though Shah watched all the films of Singh, he never aspired to be like him. “Even in childhood, I always watched films of Dara Singh, but I never wanted to be like him. We liked him because he was a legend,” said Shah. Instead, he looked up to actors like Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand and Balraj Sahni.

Shah added, “But Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand and Balraj Sahni, all these great people had both the qualities — masculine and feminine. The gentleness, the mischievousness, the arrogance of the man, the tenderness of the woman, that is when I realised that for an ideal actor or for an idol human being, both qualities are necessary. It is important to recognise your feminine self.”

Dara Singh and Arun Govil in Ramayan. (Express archive photo)

Dara Singh was a trained wrestler who travelled across the world and won several tournaments and championships. In 1954, he won the Rustam-e-Hind tournament and in 1968, he won the World Championship. While he was travelling to various countries, he was offered US citizenship in 1959, but he refused as he said he loved to live in his country.

He also starred in many films of the Indian cinema and his last on-screen appearance was in Imtiaz Alia’s Jab We Met. Singh passed away on July 12, 2012.