In a recent episode of Koffee with Karan, Aamir explained that he was not scared by the release of Sultan before Dangal. He was rather happy because he expected the audience will definitely show interest to compare both the superstars wrestling movies. He was right because you can compare the wrestling part very well because of the intricacies and details that were shown in Dangal than the superficial moves and scenes shown in Sultan. Keeping the detailing and perfection aside, does Dangal work? Oh , yes, big time.
Dangal is a based on real life characters from the Phogat family in Haryana. Mahaveer Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) is a national champion who had to give him his love for wrestling as it didn’t give him ‘roti, ‘kapda’ aur ‘makaan’. He wishes to get his dream fulfilled by having a boy child. To go against his dream, destiny gives him a girl child. He then takes all the “100% guarantee “from his friends, family and the people in the village only to end up with a second girl child. The saga continues for two more girls with him ending up as a father of four girls. One fine day, when his two older girls Geeta and Babita beat the crap out of two classmates, Mr. Phogat realizes that Phelwani is in the blood, so he determines to make his two daughters win gold for India and that becomes his one and only dream. The rest of the film is about the mentoring they undergo, their challenges, and of course how they make him proud.
Dangal’s best part is its writing. Very strategic yet organic at the same time. Phogat’s wrestling skills were shown right at the beginning to establish that he was a skilled and strong wrestler. The progress in the girls learning is also shown very naturally, without making it look like they have learnt it overnight. There are some striking scenes where you just can’t turn your eyes off. The second best part of Dangal is its casting. Nothing less than amazing. The girls who played the junior Geeta and Babita, were extra-ordinary and unmistakably represented what they went through. The seniors were amazing too. There’s a character of a nephew of Phogat who keeps the humour intact. The whole story is narrated by him. There was nothing much to really talk about Aamir Khan ‘s acting though expect for the mind-blowing transformations he has done as per the ages and stages he is in the movie.
Nitesh Tiwari, is the husband of Ashwini Iyer Tiwari who made Nil Battey Sannate this year. This Jodi is incredible. Nitesh handles the movie with great finesse with a grip no less than expert.
The pitfalls of the film is its length, and the second half which is not so consistent in keeping the proceedings interesting. The movie in the second half starts sounding so much like Chak De and some dialogues were mediocre. Some matches were utterly predictable.
However, Dangal in totality is a great experience to watch.
