Dangal: Aamir Khan-starred biopic that traced wrestling journey of Geeta, Babita Phogat

One of the highest-grossing Indian films of the past decade, Dangal chronicled the early life and career of India’s famous wrestling sisters, Geeta Phogat and Babita Phogat.

The Bollywood sports biopic followed in the footsteps of movies like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Mary Kom.

The film grossed more than Rs 2,000 crores worldwide. It was made on a budget of Rs. 70 crore.

The biggest draw in the movie was Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who played the Phogat sisters’ father and coach Mahavir Singh Phogat.

However, this was not the first time that Aamir Khan came into contact with Geeta and Babita Phogat.

Aamir Khan meets the Phogat sisters

From 2012 to 2014, Aamir Khan hosted a popular talk show on television called Satyamev Jayate and this brought the Phogats in contact with the Bollywood megastar.

During the third season in 2014, Aamir Khan invited Geeta and Babita Phogat for a segment on Satyamev Jayate, where they spoke about their journey in wrestling and how their father put them through a strict training program in their childhood.

Little did they know they were foreshadowing an even bigger retelling of their now famous journey. However, their appearance on the show had nothing to do with Aamir Khan being part of the now-famous biopic.

Dangal movie cast

Dangal was directed by Nitesh Tiwari, who was approached by an executive at production company Walt Disney India to make a movie on the lives of the Phogats.

After Geeta and Babita Phogat agreed to a film being made on their lives, Nitesh Tiwari approached Aamir Khan to play the role of Mahavir Singh Phogat.

However, the actor initially suggested that he play the role a decade later, when he would be closer to his 60s, which is the age-range Mahavir Singh Phogat is portrayed for a large part of the film.

Aamir Khan soon relented though and agreed to do the role, even coming onboard as a co-producer. With Aamir Khan locked in as the father, the rest of the cast slowly came together.

Fatima Sana Shaikh was cast to play protagonist Geeta Phogat while Sanya Malhotra played Babita Phogat. Zaira Wasim was cast as the young Geeta Phogat while popular TV actress Sakshi Tanwar played the role of the Phogats’ mother, Daya.

Dangal also marked the acting debut of Aparshakti Khurana - the younger brother of actor Ayushmann Khurana - in the role of Geeta and Babita’s cousin Omkar.

Aamir Khan’s physical transformation

Aamir Khan is well-known for his methodical acting, putting in hours of work studying his characters for each movie and dedicating himself to a role. Playing a wrestler - a physically intense sport by nature - was a new and gruelling challenge.

Since he had to play Mahavir Singh Phogat, both as a young and old person, Aamir Khan decided to first put on weight and finish shooting for the part of the older person. He put on almost 30 kgs for the part.

The real challenge came when he had to shed all that weight to play the younger role. Along with his dietician and physical trainers, Aamir Khan underwent a tough five-month program to bring his weight and body fat down to previous levels.

It was a similarly gruelling challenge for Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra, who had to train and follow the fitness regimen of a top wrestler to get into shape and perfect their movements.

The production team brought in former wrestler and now coach Kripa Shankar Patel - a Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist - to train the actresses.

Kripa Shankar Patel claimed to put them through the rigours of the training program the Indian wrestlers had undergone for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

“The only difference was the intensity,” Kripa Shankar Patel told News18. “We reduced the intensity of the training. I wanted Sanya and Fatima to be a mirror image of Geeta and Babita. 

“The Phogat sisters first run for an hour and 45 minutes and then engage in one hour of cross country running. Fatima and Sanya used to go through the same.”

"I gave them imitation training too. I made them watch wrestlers’ videos and made them imitate those before learning the techniques.”

Fatima Sana Shaikh even suffered a minor rib fracture during training but recovered soon enough and completed shooting.

Dangal at the Box Office

Dangal was released on December 23, 2016. It was declared a success soon after, as it grossed more than Rs 500 crores in India. In overseas markets, Dangal brought in more than Rs 1,000 crores, making it the highest-grossing Indian film of all time internationally.

Surprisingly, Dangal was a major hit in China - where Indian films were not that popular. It grossed more than 1,200 million yuan in China, then equivalent to Rs. 1,400 crores.

The success in China was mainly attributed to Aamir Khan’s fandom in the country, where his earlier films like 3 Idiots and PK had done well, while it was also thought that Chinese audiences related to the theme of the movie.

Dangal was also a major award winner - winning the ‘Best Film’ at the Filmfare awards while Aamir Khan won ‘Best Actor’, Nitesh Tiwari won ‘Best Director’ and action director Shyam Kaushal - the father of actor Vicky Kaushal - won the award for ‘Best Action’.

Zaira Wasim, who played the young Geeta Phogat, won a national award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’.

Dangal’s cinematic liberties

As is the case with many Bollywood biopics, some of the scenes portrayed in Dangal did not quite occur in real life and were fictionalised to increase the drama quotient.

For example, Dangal shows that the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games was Geeta Phogat’s first international success while in reality, she was already a gold-medallist at the Commonwealth Championships in 2009.

Dangal also showcased a scene where Mahavir Singh Phogat is locked in a room before the Commonwealth Games final by one of Geeta’s coaches, who was at loggerheads with her father. 

However, Mahavir Singh Phogat was in the stands during Geeta Phogat’s historic gold medal-winning run at the 2010 CWG.

“99 percent of what is shown in the film is the truth,” Geeta Phogat told Filmfare. “There’s no question of the film not being close to my life. While watching the film, we felt our life was rewind and then the video was played out on the screen.

“We (her and Babita) really enjoyed the film. We also got extremely emotional while watching it… the entire team of Dangal has done a fabulous job.”

Dangal remains one of the most seminal Hindi language films of the past decade.