Inches away from greatness

Rating: 9/10 (10 January 2017)

This is the journey of a resolute father pitching his girls in the unfamiliar sporting arena dominated by men wrestling with stern opponents as well as the prevalent norms of our society. Director Nitesh Tiwari's "Dangal" is the back story of two sisters, Geeta and Babita's claim to fame in the international wrestling arena. The story starts with their Father Mahavir Singh Phogat, a former National Champion in Wrestling, who nurtures the aspiration that one day his to be born son will fulfill his unfulfilled dream. The dream of bringing gold medal for the country in an international event. But destiny had other plans and the couple were blessed with girl children for four consecutive times. Having given up on his aspirations, a twist of fate enables Mahavir to get rid of the social shackles and urges him to pursue his ambition with his two elder girls - Geeta and Babita. Thus begins the arduous journey of the Haryanvi Wrestler and his two daughters battling with society's gender stereotyping, social taboos and the administration's pathetic disposition towards sports.
Thus begins the compelling tale of the trio which keeps you engaged throughout. The script indeed was the real hero and the team of Tiwari, Piyush Gupta, Shreyans Jain and Nikhil Mehrotra did a commendable job. The crux of filming a biopic is all about selecting the interesting events and leaving out the dull bits. Here the selections are spot on. The point at which the placid man turns tyrant and wakes up the girls at the crack of the dawn along with imposing draconian measures like abstaining them from TV shows or spicy foods and even cropping their hair sets the mood of the story. Songs do play a very vital part in narrating the plot. What could have been a stressing training regime was depicted in wry rustic humour in the Haryanvi hip hop and rap "Hanikarak Bapu". Daler Mehendi's rendition of the title track as well as Dhakkad chip in perfectly. Kudos to good use of music by Pritam and soulful lyrics by Amitabha Bhattacharya. The Tughlaq like arrogance was brought out well in Aamir but the same got redeemed as well. The scene where Geeta and Babita's schoolmate explains that "atleast your Father is thinking about you" is beautifully brought out. The chemistry after a change of perspective of the girls was even more riveting.
The crisis in the script was well injected. The tussle and the mental separation between Mahavir and the young Geeta (Fatima) heightened the tension. The peak was reached during the rumble between the two and it is one of the finest scenes ever. But the plot got a bit derailed during the closing quarter of the movie. The antagonist angle appeared a bit clumsy with unnecessary exchange of words often making a mockery out of the head coach. The concluding doses of inspiration seemed way over the top. Mahavir shouting out amongst the crowd for Geeta may have got along fine in an Akhada but not definitely in a Commonwealth stadium. The National Anthem angle was unnecessarily introduced and the scene failed to create any sort of cinematic impact. The little girl shouting out "Bharat Mata ki Jai " finally reiterated the fact that it's a Bollywood movie. Was Aamir Khan trying to make it up for his "intolerance" remark? The overdose of jingoism and machismo deprived the movie from it's pristine effort of being a rare sports film in the history of world cinema. Yes you read that right, World Cinema.
Regarding the execution, a 51 year old Aamir Khan with his beefy physique and grey hair plays the stubborn Mahavir to perfection. He literally lived the role displaying great authority and austere training skills. Sakshi as Mahavir's wife gives a controlled yet strong performance. Fatima and Saniya are discoveries with tons of acting talent. Zahira Wasim as the child Geeta and Suhani Bhatnagar as the child Babita are the ones who will be etched in our memory for long.Ritwik Sahore as the girl's cousin Omkar with his deadpan looks and comic timing impresses all. The film is probably the most authentic sports film ever made in India and full credit goes to Tiwari and cinematographer Sethu Sriram for detailing finer aspects of wrestling without pissing off. To conclude Dangal loses it's hold of greatness but nevertheless is a fine movie. Do watch it.