CHANDIGARH (India) - A giant former labourer from India who has become an international wrestling sensation is now a star in his homeland too.
Atlanta-based Dalip Singh Rana, who stands 2.2m tall and weighs nearly 200kg, returned home last week to film a documentary on his remarkable life.
Thousands turned out to greet him. His parents celebrated by making their front door 2.5m high, and the President of India told him that he is the pride of the nation.
Indeed, the first Indian to be signed up by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has earned prizes, movie roles and piles of money for his prowess on the wrestling mat during his years in the United States.
And on Thursday, he earned a new reward for his body slams and headlocks - a promotion in Punjab's police force.
Mr Rana, who is nicknamed The Great Khali after Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction, kept his day job as a police officer in the northern state of Punjab when he moved to the US to wrestle.
Police officials granted him extended sick leave in 2006 and were happy he used that time to become a star.
'He has brought the force international fame and has made us all very proud with his many achievements as a wrestler,' said senior police official Rajan Gupta on Thursday.
Mr Rana's biography on the WWE website says: 'This enormous monster has walked the jungles of India unafraid of pythons and wrestled White Bengal tigers.'
In addition to wrestling, Mr Rana also acts, playing alongside Adam Sandler in the film The Longest Yard in 2005.
