Movie Review: Dangal

MUMBAI: There are many rousing moments in Nitesh Tiwari’s “Dangal” (Hindi slang for the wrestling arena), but perhaps the one that best exemplifies the film and its characters is the delightful track “Haanikarak Baapu” (Dangerous father). In it, a father pushes his teenage daughters to train as wrestlers, waking them up at the crack of dawn, keeping them away from their favourite food and TV shows so that  they can excel in a sport they have never played before.

It could have been a sombre moment in the film, but lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya brilliantly turns it around by injecting wry, rustic humour that is sure to make the grumpiest audience chuckle. This thread of humour runs throughout the film and elevates the viewing experience, making it more than just a chronicle of Mahavir Singh Phogat’s obsession with producing champion wrestlers.

Phogat braves ridicule, gender biases and the complete lack of infrastructure in his village of Balali in Haryana to forge ahead and make his children achieve what he never managed to do – win a gold medal for India at the international level.

His POA is simple and his modus operandi brutal. Geeta and Babita, until then carefree teenagers who love dressing up and sleeping in, cannot fathom what suddenly caused their otherwise placid father to turn into a despot, but are also not conditioned to question the man of the house. Their mother Daya (Sakshi Tanwar) mildly protests against her husband’s improbable plan, raising her voice only when he suggests cooking chicken in their vegetarian household.