Dangal is a film based on the true story of Mahavir SIngh Phogat’s life as a wrestler and senior coach. He coached his two daughters Geeta kumari Phogat and Babita kumari Phogat, both becoming national level champions.
This film was made really well with Aamir playing the role of Mahavir Singh. He has done a brilliant job as the coach, training his onscreen daughters. The daughters, played by Zaira Wasim as the younger Geeta, Fatima Sana Shaikh as the senior Geeta and Sanya Malhotra playing Babita played their roles to perfection. Despite being newcomers to films, they lived up to the characters very well.
Some of the scenes were very intense, especially the scene between the father and daughter when they wrestle against each other. The scene, shot very well, showed the strong determination of each of them to prove themselves superior to the other.
The casting for each of the other characters in the film seems to have also been done well. Sakshi Tanwar plays the mother’s role and fits in very well. She kept a very low profile, which was needed, in comparison to the other leads. The Haryanvi accent and dialect of all the characters was a delight!
The director Nitesh Tiwari has truly made a path breaking film.The characterisation of each person, with special care to give the rustic, no-make up look, gives a realistic portrayal of the story.Selecting the right actors for each role and giving just the right look to each scene made it a pleasure to watch. The cinematography and editing was good, getting close to each character’s emotions and movements while managing scene changes deftly.
Overall the movie was very well made. It is nice to see films about real people and their achievements and the problems they go through. There is a lot of inspiration and learning that we get from such a film. I am definitely going to watch this movie again!
The only jarring note was the fact that the portrayal of the national coach was apparently not what really happened, leading to an unnecessary controversy.
I give this movie 4 stars……