Arrey Bhai Hanuman nahin hoon: When Dara Singh had to stop people from touching his feet

Wrestler turned actor, Dara Singh had won many accolades in his long career. From Rustam-E-Hind’ to ‘Rustam-E-Punjab’ to first He-Man of Bollywood, Singh was one of the most noted actors of India. But, above all, he was and still is the face of Hanuman.

Back in the days, when Doordarshan was ruling the roost, streets would go empty, shops would shutter, and people would bathe and garland their TV sets when Ramayan used to telecast. In those days, such was the impact of Ramanand Sagar’s long-running Doordarshan serial Ramayan, that people started worshipping the actors themselves.

Dara Singh, who passed away in 2012, had narrated one such incident.


"Devotees of the real Hanuman would fall at my feet when I went out into the public. I protested very strongly against this deification. ‘Arrey, Bhai Hanuman nahin hoon. Main sirf Hanuman ka kirdaar nibha raha hoon’ I would plead with them. But to no avail. They insisted I was the real Hanuman and put up my photograph in their puja rooms, etc.," Dara Singh had said.

Contrary to popular perception, Dara Singh became a household name as Pavan Putra Hanuman long before Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan that came in 1987. He played the role of Lord Hanuman in a 1976 film called Bajrang Bali by director Chandrakant. In 1966 also he acted in a film on Hanuman titled Veer Bajrang but he did not play Hanuman.

Notably, Dara Singh wasn't even the first to play the role of Bajrang Bali. Way back in 1961, an unknown actor named Pal Sharma played the character in mega-hit Sampoorna Ramayan and he became the first actor in Hindi cinema to make a mark as Hanuman. Many donned the role after Dara Singh as well, but it was Singh who, till now, comes to mind.