Dangal Review - A Sports Film That Hits All the Right Chords, Well Almost

Sethumadhavan

Right from the very beginning when Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) goes about putting his daughters Geeta and Babita through the gruelling preparation of making them champion wrestlers, they don’t seem to be appreciative of it. Not only are they not pleased to give up on a regular life like most girls of their age, they find the whole hard work and routine to be taxing and are unable to understand why their father is so strict with them. In a rare moment of trying to defy their dad and freak out, they go on to attend a friend’s wedding, with their cousin Omkar in tow. But their happiness doesn’t last too long as their father turns up over there and expresses his anger. At this juncture one would normally expect the scene that follows to be filled up with emotionally heavy dialogues, with Mahavir berating the 3 kids, especially Geeta and Babita.

But that’s where director Nitesh Tiwari surprises us in Dangal, the film that everyone seems to have been looking forward to for a while. In fact the scene that follows does not even feature Mahavir, what we see instead is their friend telling Geeta and Babita why are they actually so better off than most girls of their age including her and that their father cares for their future and wants them to achieve something big in life and not lead a typical housewife’s routine later on. This is one good example of how well written Dangal is (written by Nitesh Tiwari, Piyush Gupta, Shreyas Jain and Nikhil Mehrotra). We all know that Aamir Khan has been supporting some interesting films in the last few years and hence the announcement of Dangal, a film on the success story of champion wrestlers Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari, along with their father Mahavir Singh Phogat came across as something very interesting and promising.

The film follows almost all the characteristics required in a good sports film, striking an impact with the audience fairly early on. So we realize that Mahavir was a National wrestling champion who had to sacrifice his passion and take up a job because of his father. Years later he tells his wife Daya Shobha Kaur (Sakshi Tanwar) that his sons would fulfil his dream of getting a gold medal for India in wrestling. But fate has other things in store for him as they go on to have 4 daughters instead. Just when he had virtually given up on his ambition, he gets a brainwave thanks to a situation and decides to train his older daughters Geeta and Babita as wrestlers instead. The rest of the film is all about how Mahavir goes on to convert himself from a father to a coach in case of Geeta and Babita and how they respond to wrestling. So does Mahavir get to see his dream fulfilled? Well if you are aware of the exploits of Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari then you should know how the film pans out, even otherwise it’s a sports biopic so you can’t go wrong in guessing the outcome.

While it is a little easy to conceive a biopic considering the readily available material on the subject, especially if the sports personality/personalities are still connected to the sport, it is also a tough assignment since you have to battle the expectations of the audience as well as ensure that the proceedings are kept interesting enough though people are aware of what’s in store for them. Nitesh Tiwari on this front does manage to get his act right and here he is assisted by the whole team. So if the writers provide the necessary flow and concept, Mukesh Chhabra’s casting choices are a big plus for the film and the actors by themselves put in remarkable performances. The film also scores highly in terms of getting the focus on wrestling right, with Arjuna awardee and wrestler Kripa Shankar Bishnoi being drafted in as the wrestling coordinator and the wrestling matches induce an adrenaline rush.

Pritam continues his good form when it comes to music and the songs suit the mood and tone of the film pretty well. In a film which gets most of the basics right it is a little surprising to see Mahavir being pitted against someone in a deliberate fashion of sorts, the coach of the Indian women’s wrestling team (Girish Kulkarni). It’s quite sad and strange to see a talented actor like Girish Kulkarni being reduced to a caricature, only to act as a villain of sorts towards the end to bring in some forced drama into the proceedings. Sakshi Tanwar does not have much to do but is quite effective as the hassled wife and mother and yet someone who remains supportive of Mahavir’s ambition. It’s nice to see Aamir sink to the character of Mahavir and play it with some restraint, in the process allowing the girls to take the centre stage and remain a guide force from the periphery.

Ritwik Sahore and Aparshakti Khurrana play the younger and older versions of Omkar, the cousin of Geeta and Babita and the sutradharof the tale with consummate style and make us smile. The girls are fantastic and enthral us with their performances, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Zaira Wasim playing the older and younger versions of Geeta Phogat and Sanya Malhotra and Suhani Bhatnagar playing the older and younger versions of Babita Kumari with great conviction. Dangal is not a flawless film, but it is a film with a heart and it wears it on its sleeve confidently.

Bottomline:

Dangal is a sincere attempt from Nitesh Tiwari to come up with a sports biopic and touch upon an important subject. He receives great support in this endeavour from Aamir Khan, the actor and the producer and of course the girls who make the film quite a treat to watch.

Rating: 4/5

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