Dara Singh was born in the village of Dharmuchak, which was then a part of British Punjab. Singh left his village for Singapore in 1948. He started his career as an actor in 1952 with Sangdil. He was a stunt film actor for many years and played his first lead role in Babubhai Mistry's film King Kong (1962). From around 1963 he partnered often with Mumtaz, with whom he performed in 16 Hindi films. The couple became the highest-paid B-grade actors, with Singh receiving nearly four lakh rupees per film. His last Hindi movie was Jab We Met and last Punjabi movie released before his illness was Dil Apna Punjabi. He acted in National Award winning film Main Maa Punjab Dee directed by Balwant Singh Dullat. He directed seven Punjabi including Sawa Lakh SeEk Ladaun, Nanak Dukhiya Sub Sansar, Dhyanu Bhagat, Rab Dian Rakhan. He also directed two films in Hindi, Bhakti Mein Shakti and Rustom (1982). Singh was the owner of Dara Studio at Mohali, District Mohali, Punjab.