one of the best from Bollywood

Rating: 8/10 (12 July 2018)

Mahavir Singh Phogat is a former Indian national champion wrestler. With no support from the government, he failed to get an international gold medal for his country but hoped to be redeemed by a son. He is disillusioned after getting four daughters and no sons. Even the Gods have turned against him. Then neighborhood parents complain that Mahavir's daughters Geeta and Babita had beaten up their boys. He is inspired to train them for girls' wrestling.
This is based on the real family of wrestlers. As soon as he had the first daughter, it seems obvious where this is going. For an hour, this is a formulaic underdog sports movie. At that point, my main complaints are that it uses way too many montages and I thought cutting the girls' hair is a step too far. It follows the formula well and the characters are appealing. It's a solid sports movie. Then the movie keeps going and going. The darn thing is almost three hours and unlike other Bollywood movies, there are no long song and dance sequences. The story takes another step and the relationships get deeper. There is a fight between father and daughter that is tense and emotional. It takes the movie to a higher level. Even the hair has a nice payoff later on. The wrestling at the end is compelling. This is one of the better movies from Bollywood.