The first noticeable Hanuman in Indian cinema was played by an unknown actor named Pal Sharma in Babubhai Mistry’s 1961 mega-hit Sampoorna Ramayan where mythological cinema’s favourite pauranic pair Mahipal and Anita Guha played Ram and Sita. Pal Sharma left a pleasant impression as Hanuman. He was the first actor in Hindi cinema to make a mark as Hanuman.
Not until Dara Singh came along did Lord Hanuman gets his due in Hindi cinema and on television. Such was the all-pervasive impact of Dara Singh’s Hanuman in Ramanand Sagar’s long-running Doordarshan serial Ramayan that he became the face of Hanuman in numerous Hindu households and the calendar-impression of Hanuman.
“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.
From then on Dara Singh was the face of Hanuman. Interestingly in 1966 there was a film on Hanuman titled Veer Bajrang and though Dara Singh was in the cast he did not play Hanuman. It didn’t start with Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan either. That came much later.
In 1976 the very reputed director Chandrakant made a feature film called Bajrang Bali where he cast Dara Singh as Hanuman. The film was a blockbuster, something as big as Jai Santoshi Maa, and Dara became a household name as Pavan Putra Hanuman.
Eleven years later Dara Singh landed the role of Hanuman in Ramanand Sagar’s historic mythological. Producer-director Ramanand Sagar had a dream in which he saw Dara Singh as Hanuman. Dara, then pushing 60, was still an active wrestler and as fit as a fiddle. He took to the role as though his own.
After Dara Singh’s death, his son Vindoo Dara Singh was cast in the role of Hanuman in the television series Jai Veer Hanuman. He also played Hanuman in director K Raghavendra Rao’s Telugu hit Sri Ramadasu in 2006.
Says Vindoo Dara Singh, “Papaji, as we all called the kind Ramanand Sagarji, decided to make the Ramayan. Though Dipika Chikhalia was the first choice for Sita, Arun Govil was not the original choice for Ram. Papaji had someone else in mind for Ram. Arun Govilji was supposed to play some other role. But he insisted he would play Ram. Papaji had a dream one night where he saw my father as Hanuman. Dad was summoned and offered the role. Of course he had no choice. No one said no to Papaji. And of course Dad was still fit enough to play Hanuman. But he was 60 and after years of wrestling his knees and shoulders had begun to trouble him. But Papaji insisted and my father had no choice but to play Hanuman.”
Ramayan made Dara Singh the face of Hanuman. Recalls Vindoo, “It was my father until he was alive and then it was me. I was first offered the role of Hanuman in the serial Jai Veer Hanuman in 1996. I was hesitant about slipping into a role patented by my father. But I took up the challenge. Now I am invited to the Rama Leela in Delhi every year to play Hanuman. My most memorable moment on stage as Hanuman was when the PM Modiji put a teeka on my head before my performance. My best stint as Hanuman was in a Telugu film directed by the legendary Bapu.”
After Dara Singh the most memorable Hanuman was played by a Muslim actor. In the television serial Siya Ke Ram, Danish Akhtar Saifi, a wrestler turned actor like Dara Singh, become a household name as Hanuman.
Two other interesting though failed modern interpretations of Hanuman were portrayed by Satish Shah in Manoj Kumar’s Kalyug Aur Ramayan and Govinda in Mani Ratnam’s Raavan.
