Dangal (2016) Review: A Father, Two Daughters and the Mat

Is Dangal worth watching?

Yes. Dangal is a superbly crafted sports drama that delivers every crowd-pleasing beat the genre promises, and grounds them in a family story with real friction. Nitesh Tiwari’s film about a former wrestler who trains his daughters in rural Haryana is funny, physical and genuinely stirring, and Aamir Khan gives one of his most disciplined performances. The reservations are a running time that stretches past two and a half hours and a late turn towards broad villainy, but neither dents its considerable power.

What is Dangal about?

Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) is a former wrestler in a Haryana village who never won the international medal he dreamed of, and who hopes a son will finish the job. When he has daughters instead, he sets the dream aside, until the girls prove they can fight. Over the objections of his neighbours and the embarrassment of his children, he begins training Geeta and Babita as wrestlers, in a place where girls are expected to learn cooking rather than holds.

The adult Geeta and Babita are played by Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra, with younger actors taking the roles in the first half. Dangal is inspired by the real Phogat family. It is a Hindi-language Indian film directed by Tiwari, runs 161 minutes, and won the Filmfare Award for Best Film. It became one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever, with a remarkable run in China, and it is streaming on Netflix in many regions.

Aamir Khan at his most controlled

Aamir Khan plays Mahavir across decades, from a fit young man to a heavy, greying father, and the physical transformation is striking without becoming the point. What matters more is the stillness. Mahavir is stubborn, proud and emotionally closed, and Khan resists the temptation to make him lovable; the film’s warmth has to be earned in small moments rather than speeches.

The young performers in the first half are equally strong. The girls’ resentment at being dragged out of bed before dawn, their hair cut short and their friends laughing at them, gives the training montages an edge of genuine grievance. Shaikh and Malhotra carry that history into the second half, where the story moves from the village to the national stage.

Wrestling scenes you can feel

Tiwari stages the bouts with unusual clarity. The camera stays close enough to show grips, balance and exhaustion, and the rules are explained so plainly that viewers who have never watched a wrestling match can follow every point. The early village contests, where a girl stepping into a mud pit against boys draws a crowd of jeering men, are some of the most satisfying scenes in modern Indian popular cinema.

Pritam’s songs are used sparingly and cleverly, commenting on the action rather than stopping it. The playful track about a father’s harsh love frames the tough training with humour, and lets the audience laugh at Mahavir’s methods while noticing how hard they are.

Where the film pulls its punches

Dangal is sharpest when it lets that ambivalence stand. Mahavir’s methods are rigid and often severe, and the film raises the question of whether his daughters’ success is liberation or a father’s ambition imposed on them. It does not always follow that question through, and the final stretch leans towards a simple hero-and-villain structure, with a national coach written as a near-caricature. It is effective as drama and thinner as an argument.

Who should watch Dangal?

It is ideal for families with older children, fans of underdog sports films, and anyone curious about mainstream Hindi cinema at its most accomplished. Plan for a long evening. There is no graphic violence, but the father’s harsh discipline and scenes of public humiliation may prompt conversations with younger viewers.

Three natural companions:

• Lagaan, another Aamir Khan sporting epic in which a village takes on a much stronger opponent.
• Taare Zameen Par, which looks at parental pressure from the child’s side of the table.
• 12th Fail, a more recent story of relentless striving against the odds.

The verdict

Dangal is a rousing, beautifully built sports drama that uses the wrestling mat to tell a larger story about daughters, fathers and who gets to compete. A caricatured antagonist and a long runtime keep it just shy of perfect, but Aamir Khan’s restraint and the film’s physical honesty make it a modern classic of Indian popular cinema.

Rating: 4.5/5