Dangal
Wrestling is mentioned in Ramayan and Mahabharat. Hanuman was considred to be a great wrestler. Mahabharat has lots of references to the wrestling skills of Bhima, Jarasandha and Karna. It used to be called malla-yuddh. Until Gama Pehelwan decided to move to Pakistan at the time of Partition, he was the king of the wrestling scene in India. He stayed unbeaten in a career spanning more than 50 years. The next superstar of wrestling was Dara Singh. His most well-known fight was against King Kong. But Dara Singh’s obsession with the silver screen drew him away from wrestling. Dara Singh acted in 16 movies opposite Mumtaz and also played Hanuman in the TV serial - Ramayan.This long association with wrestling has not made it easy for wrestlers to win Olympic medals. Sushil Kumar brought us our first silver at the Beijing Olympics (2008) for this sport. And then repeated his performance four years later in the London Olympics. This time India won another medal thanks to Yogeshwar Dutt– a bronze. In Rio, Sakshi Malik won the bronze. She became the first female wrestler to win an Olympic medal.The film Dangal is inspired by the real life story of Mahavir Singh Phogat (played by Aamir Khan), an amateur wrestler who desperately wants a son. When his wife delivers his fourth daughter, he gives up his dreams. When his neighbors complain about their sons being beaten up by Babita and Geeta, his two daughters, Mahavir Phogat believes that his daughters have the fighting spirit needed. Fatima Sana Shaikh plays the older Geeta Phogat and Sanya Malhotra plays the role of Babita. Fatima Sana Shaikh is undoubtedly the acting find of 2016. The wrestling sequences look real. This is what makes the film truly memorable.https://youtu.be/kGZjouuqY4EThe father is obsessed with vicariously representing India at an international event (not Olympics) and will not let anything come in the way. He gives them a crew cut and makes them wear shorts and wrestle their male cousin. When his neighbors in the village mock him, he just digs his heel in. This is the bit that Aamir Khan does well. He depicts grit and determination that can inspire anyone. In a state which has battled with female feticide and low levels of women’s literacy, Dangal breaks the stereotypes and does it well.
But when it comes to portraying the role of a coach, he fails to break the Bollywood stereotype of the coach who will yell and terrorize to make his daughters fall in line. Any challenge to his authority is (if needed) physically demolished. In the recent times Shahrukh Khan in Chak De India also uses the ‘I know best attitude’. Amitabh Bachchan portrays a despotic and almost brutal teacher in Black.
While Aamir Khan challenges patriarchy and stands up for womens’ rights, he disappoints in his portrayal of a coach or teacher. His character reinforces the very orthodoxy the film hopes to fight. Bollywood only knows one model of leadership – the benevolent dictator. It reinforces the age old belief that the student must never question the teacher. Innovation happens when people question traditions and traditional wisdom. These portrayals tell the young that the teacher knows best. Blindly surrendering to the teacher is the path to success. What happened to the Taarey Zameen Par model of a teacher who inspires even the most reticent?After gaining 28 kg. for the initial shoot, Aamir Khan lost 25 kg. in 20 weeks to portray the younger (25 years old) character of Mahavir Singh Phogat. But why he needed to put on weight to play the character beats me.
The one song that stayed with me is Gilehriyan (Squirrels). Jonita Gandhi’s voice has just the right amount of bounce as she sings the lovely lyrics (Amitabh Bhattacharya) set to Pritam’s music.
https://youtu.be/RunYl3Q0SYIDangal is inspiring. Very inspiring. Watch it when you falter in your new year resolutions.===============Join me on Twitter @AbhijitBhaduri