One of my favorite Amir Khan moments in Hindi cinema is his breakdown scene in Dil Chahta Hai (2001) when his hitherto carefree, untroubled Akash desperately tries to hold back tears in the face of a personal crisis during a telephonic talk with his perspective dad. Needless to say, he is immediately summoned back home to Mumbai from Sydney. That telephonic homecoming comes a full circle in Dangal. Khan playing the real life champion wrestler and estranged father Mahavir singh Phogat, hears his weeping prodigal daughter Geeta admit to her mistakes and return to the fold.
So, there’s Khan essaying the role of a man treading the middle ground between being a guru and a father to his daughters, caring for them yet maintain a formal distance, the affection conveyed with a seemingly casual greeting: “kaisi hai pahalwan.” The actor undergoes a miraculous physical transformation, playing the role with his body, the girth and the gait than just eyes and face, and wrestling away like he was to the akhada born.
From the pits of Rustic arrogance to the highs of steely determination, Mr. Director chronicles the roller coaster rise of Mahavir Singh Phogat and his wrestler daughters. Even before one gets into “Akhada” (Hachette) the gate of the Balali village in Bhiwani district conveys the story of social change that is taking root in Haryana. Mr. Tiwari screened about the Phogat sisters since their rise not only has a great equation with Mahavir but also understands the social milieu of the region, where people are still dependent on rain water for agriculture and patriarchy is still deep rooted. But it is not straitjacketed as many commentators like us to believe. For instance, many feel that Mahavir’s desire for a boy doesn’t get fulfilled even when his daughters started excelling in the sport. But it was his wife’s desire to have a boy. “But it does reflect that in Haryana patriarchy is deep seated in women as well.”
The movie also unravels the making of a wrestler and how different factors come together to decide the destiny of a sportsman. Mahavir Singh Phogat was competitive but his focus was limited to a Government job and earning money through participating in “dangals”. Mahavir could not win even a single medal in a national championships and his stubborn nature ensures that he could not last in the govt job either. It was Mahavir’s stubborn nature that later helped him achieve his goal despite the fact that he was not a trained coach. Based on his experience in dangals, his approach is tilted towards the power aspect of wrestling.
“Modern wrestling is about a striking a balance between strength and technique while in mud pit dangals one required immense power as the wrestler gets strong grip in the mud.”
My verdict: The film will play an important role in taking the sport to a pan India level and the story to a global stage. Till now, it is Geeta’s and Babita’s success that has created a buzz about the sport and has resulted in the success of Sakshi Malik (Wrestling Bronze champion in Olympics 2016).
– Vinay Gupta
Film maker and Producer, Vinr Films
Vinay Gupta Producer, VinR Films is a third-generation entrepreneur, with rich and varied experience in a wide range of business domains. Vinay is a software engineer from Amity, NOIDA. and has completed his MBA from the IT division of Symbiosis International University. He is also the Founder Director of Dynamic Technosoft (Software Company) and a Director in Vinsam Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. (Investments & Wealth Management Company). In his professional career Vinay has diverse experience in the fields of information technology, software projects, infrastructure development, financial wealth management, film making etc.
