Dangal | A Nice Biographical Film Exploring Journey of Indian Wrestlers

We have often mentioned that Aamir Khan is a marketing genius. He have the talent got the nerve of the audience. By doing less movies he manages his time effectively and remains aware of the current trends and happenings around us.

Working in less film makes him able to have enough time for having a well thought and executed marketing campaign for the movie and/or TV Shows or other aspects he is associated with it. This way we can say he balances the things well.

The latest movie starring him (along with many other good performances) is Dangal. The available trade reports shouts clearly the commercial success of the movie at the box office. It is critically acclaimed too.

It is said that the movie is based on Mahavir Singh Phogat and his 4 daughters who all are assoicated with wrestling. Mahavir Singh himself was associated with Wrestling in his young age. He dreamt to win Gold which remain unfulfilled. He then decided to prepare his daughters for the sport of wrestling.

In fact Mahavir Singh Phogat’s daughter Geeta Phogat became first female wrestler to win at the 2010 Commonwealth Games for India, where she won the gold medal (55 kg). Her sister Babita Kumari won the silver (51 kg).

There is also a book written on him, titled Akhada: The Authorized Biography of Mahavir Singh Phogat (Author: Saurabh Duggal).

The movie is neither based on the book nor it is a documentary. It twists many facts for the commercial purpose. However it still remains inspirational.

Having said that let us look into the content of the movie.

Book Plot:

Mahavir Singh Phogat is an ametuer wrestler who loves his game. He is however a middle class fellow and in order to earn livelihood for his family he need to leave his passion. Like majority of other fellow he then thought of having his child fulfil his dream to earn a Gold medal for India in wrestling.

Life plays strangely and he was blessed with four girls. He however was keen to have a boy whom he can make a wrestler. Life plays again, and one day he found that his girls beat the boys. It struck an idea in his mind. If his girls have the potentional, he can train them to be a world class wrestler and get his dream fulfilled via them.

He starts training his girls from the point forward. The girls didn’t find the disciplined life with a lot of hard training, not amazing. However lack of choices made them to concentrate on the job in front and eventually they started trasforming into good wrestlers.

Geeta eventually wins the Junior Internationals and goes to an institute in Patiala for further training so she can participate in the Commonwealth Games. Here, Geeta lives like a free bird who just got out of the cage. She started fulfilling her girly wishes and started eating junk food and other stuffs also. Her coach have a different vision then Mahavir.

When Mahavir found this, it didn’t went well with him. He eventually got into tussle with Geeta’s coach and even Geeta. Geeta is a changed girl now and she was against her father’s views. Babita also eventually joins the training camp.

The things however went against Geeta, due to her vulnerabilities and she lost the match.

What happens now is quite assumable but how it happen is better to explore on screen.

Having said that let us look into the content of the movie.

Views and Reviews:

Aamir is a method actor and he is dedicated to what he does. In this movie, you can see him trying hard and performing the best he can. And he succeed into it. It is one of the most memorable performances by him for sure. Also the physical transformation he has gone through is simply superb.

Sakshi Tanwar got a small role, but she is a fine actress and stands out in her performance without a doubt. The real heroes of the film (apart from script and Aamir) are Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra. They show their dedication and as we haven’t seen them earlier in any other role, they look the characters they are playing. It is a nice debut for them both.

Zaira and Suhani (as young Geeta and Babita respectively) got less screen time, they however leaves their mark. Girish is good as fictional Coach. Vivan Bhatena’s work needs a mention.

Overall a good series of performanes we can say.

The background music is up to the mark and it adds to the positives of the scenes. After a long time there came a series of movies where we see middle class homes and real life people and their way of living; explored on celluloid. The sets and locations are well thought and searched. The wardrobe is quite authentic too.

Though there was no place for traditional Bollywood movie songs in the film. However some tracks are popular and they adds melody to the film, you actually never miss the traditional Bollywood songs throughout the movie.

The dialogs are effective and uses the day-to-day language. The script is tight, especially in the first half of the movie. In the second half you sometimes start feeling the repeatitiveness in the exectuation.

The climax is filmed pretty well. When you leave the theater, the film goes with you without a doubt.

Nitesh delivered remarkable performance as the captain of the ship.

Truth and Trivia:

At the same time the movie is praised for many of its aspects, and as an overall package, the voices came over about some fact distoration or improper exploration from around.
Here are only few of such:

• Inspiration:
  In movie it is represented that after the beating of boys with the hands of his daughter, Mahavir see a potential to become wrestlers in them. However it was Karnam Malleswari, a weight lifter, who performed fantastic at international level was the source of inspiration for the girls.
  Here is the YouTube video:
  
• The Fight:
  In movie the wrestling fight between Geeta and her opponent is explored differently in the movie than what actually happened. As the actual game was witnessed by many on the TV, the director/writers could have better decided to keep it as it was.
  For more details you may like to read this article
• The Coach:
  The character of Geeta’s coach is explored quite differently, and it didn’t went well with the real life fellow who coached the sisters. He also never had any tussle with Mahavir Singh Phogat, nor Mahavir Singh was ever locked anywhere or denied entry to the the championship place.
  In order to add additional strength to Mahavir’s character in the film, the facts are played with.
  For more details you may like to read this article

As said earlier, it is not a documentary film, not it claims to be. Some level of drama/fantasy is expected to be added to the film.

However, if this much amount of changes are fine? Couldn’t it have been made with very little alterations? Well, the audience have to decide the answer.

In terms of cinematic thrills, it adds up and gives desired results to the makers.

Summary:

In terms of a movie, it lives upto the audience’s expectations. It gives all the thrill, joy and emotions audience have expected from it. It is ispirational and talks about gender equality as well. The visionary marketing works in favor of the movie, and without a doubt it is a commercial success.

Bonus Video:

Here is the video of the Phogat Sisters introduced during Satyamev Jayate where they meet Aamir Khan and probably the seeds of this movie are planted.

Did you watch the movie? Or Are you planning to watch it? Which part of the movie you like the best? What is the most effective scene of the movie according to you? Is there anything you want to share about this movie or this article? Are you going to purchase it when available on DVD? Do not hesitate, go ahead and leave your comments below. And yes, do not forget to share this article with your friends over various social networks via Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and others. And yes, you may like to subscribe to our RSS feeds and follow us on various Social networks to get latest updates for the site to land right in your mail box.