In The Times of India, Avijit Ghosh profiles wrestler Dara Singh on his 80th birthday
Dara Singh as Hanuman in the TV serial, Ramayana
He could slaughter fire-spitting giant lizards with a kitchen knife, twirl the biggest monsters like rag dolls before tossing them aside, chase villains to the moon much before Neil Armstrong was spotted there and stop an aeroplane with his bare hands. Ask anyone who grew up in the 1960s — impossible was nothing when Dara Singh was around.
Long before the Great Khali was born and much before pretty-boy superstars started to flaunt six-packs, Dara Singh was the real testosterone-charged McCoy, the original Singh who became King.
Even now, as he turns 80 on November 19, the rugged masculinity endures in popular consciousness. That’s why he looked perfect as the patriarch in Jab We Met. It may also be why even red-hot Akshay Kumar wants him for a film tentatively titled, Patiala House.
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The pro wrestler returns to India for a month-long vacation, and his fans just can’t get enough of him, writes Rama Lakshmi in The Washington Post
After two hours of swaying to thumping Bollywood neo-folk music and listening to stock stage jokes, the fans grew impatient and began chanting for the star of the evening to show up. “We want Khali! We want Khali!”
And when the Goliath-size professional wrestler of that name appeared on stage in a blue cotton shirt, jeans and ponytail, thousands of hands thrust cellphone cameras into the air to capture the image.
“Khali, we love you,” screamed men and women alike. “The Khali bomb!” yelled a male voice. Little boys tried to climb over barricades to get closer to the stage, on a college campus.
In India, public adulation and hysteria like this is usually reserved for stars of cricket or the film industry known as Bollywood. But Khali has earned his frenzied fame by becoming the Indian icon of American TV wrestling. He is the first man from this country to rise high in the American gladiatorial adventure of World Wrestling Entertainment, winning the world heavyweight championship in July 2007.
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Previously on AW:
Big man big heart
Great Khali gears up
Dilip Singh Rana, better known by his ring name, The Great Khali, gears up on Sunday night for his WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) showdown with such big daddies of international wrestling as the Undertaker and Batista. Billed at 7 ft, 3 inches and 420 lb, The Great Khali won the Mr India title in 1995 and 1996 and has appeared in the movie, The Longest Yard. Wikipedia has a profile here.
News of Sunday’s No Way Out match follows:
No Way Out: M.V.P. vs. Undertaker vs. Big Daddy V vs. Great Khali vs. Finlay vs. Batista [Elimination Chamber Match]
MVP introduced first and goes into a pod, followed by Vis who also pods up. Great Khali will start in a pod as well.
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And on how fans in Punjab are rooting for this one-time cop, Sify has a report:
His sport may not be played commonly in India but that has not dented the popularity of wrestler Dalip Singh, better known as ‘The Great Khali’ in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) international circuit.
He is officially part of the Punjab Police, but lives mostly in the US.
With Khali all set for his big fight on February 17 – with five opponents ready to pin him down in the ‘No way out’ ring of death in a WWE match in the US – his fans in this Punjab city are backing up their hero. T-shirts and other accessories carrying the picture of Khali have appeared in markets and shops here and are selling.
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