Tagline: MUST WATCH for everyone who thinks Girls are/aren’t meant just for the kitchens!
Plot:
Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) is a national level wrestler who gives up the game owing to family responsibilities. Hoping to fulfill his dream through his son, Mahavir longs for a boy child but is blessed with four girls. Upset Mahavir tries to bury his dream but one day his daughters Geetha (Fatima Sana Sheikh & Zaira Wasim as young Geetha) & Babitha (Sanya Malhotra) prove him very wrong. Mahavir realizes his mistake and trains his girls into proud national level wrestlers. But time got bigger challenges for Geetha as a wrestler and Mahavir as a father and her guru. How did the father and daughter deal with those challenges and emerge history-makers forms the rest of the plot.
Dangal Performances:
We have seen many sports based films before but Dangal stands apart – due credits to the heart-warming performances of Aamir Khan and Fatima Sana Sheik!
Zaira Wasim and Sanya Malhotra were the other two acting gems & Aparshakthi Khurrana was an entertainer too!
Some decent performances by the rest of the cast but the commitment and hardship of Zaira and Fatima deserve a special mention.
Analysis:
Sports based films are usually made out of inspirational and often close to impossible achievements. So they already have an extraordinary story that deserves to be crafted into a brilliant script with its heart and mind in the right place.
Dangal – a film based out of real life incidents of the legendary Mahavir Singh Phogat who sculpted his girls (Geetha and Babitha Phogat) into acclaimed wrestlers who made India proud in national and international arenas – of course a remarkable accomplishment given the state of our Indian society.
A potential story and on top of it, he has got his casting right – what else can director Nitesh Tiwari ask for! The merit of the writing department is evident from the clarity in the emotion of the script – a father-daughter emotion. Wrestling is indeed an integral part of the game but the film largely concentrates on the “haanikarak” baapu’s zeal and conflict as a guru and father & the metamorphosis of his daughters from mere players to true champions.
What happens when an average Indian father goes “baavda” to prove something to the world?
What happens when he imposes his dream on his daughters for their ‘good’ &
How do his daughters reciprocate to their father’s fervor and discover wrestling in their khoon to evolve into champs that their country is proud of?
You get to see all of this in a heartening and thought-provoking way and wrestling spills its magic in the second half – engross you like none! Well Dangal is not an out-of-the-world script but it once again proves what difference emotional-connect, right execution and performances can bring to your script.
[Spoiler Alert: If anyone’s waiting for young Aamir’s wrestling sequence, you may be disappointed]
Merits:
- Story and screenplay
- Lead cast Performances
- Sethu Sriram’s Cinematography
- Editing
- Production Design
- Music and background score
De-merits:
- Nothing significant (Which means the film worked for us!)
Music:
We get to enjoy Pritam Babu’s music that actually breaks the mold. The versatile songs in the film are a treat to watch. Dhakkad hain song gives you goose bumps!
Others:
Nothing special to mention
Dangal Verdict:
You might have seen many sports films but Dangal stands apart as an emotion and performance-driven film than just a sports film. Even if you’re least interested in the genre, the performances engross you and leave you some meat for the heart and thought for the brain!
MUST WATCH for everyone who thinks Girls are/aren’t meant just for the kitchens!
Dangal Avg User Rating: 3.5/5