Dangal - A Man Can't be defeated

#Dangal : Few minutes into Dangal , Aamir Khan disappears . And we meet Mahavir Singh Phogat , a former national wrestling champion , who wants to have a son who can fulfil his unfulfilled desire of winning an international gold medal in wrestling . The dream tends to get crushed as his wife delivers four daughters, but the determination of a man possessed by single minded devotion can rarely be crushed.

Ernest Hemingway in “The old Man & the Sea” tells us “But a man is not made for defeat.” And men like Mahavir Singh rarely succumb to circumstances. They rise like phoenix from ashes. That Geeta & Babita belong to a Khapp ridden state where there are rampant cases of female foeticide and the child sex ratio is one of the worst in the country, is a testament to their indomitable spirit to stand up against all odds and their father’s perseverance. Dangal is as much a story about Mahavir Singh Phogat’s extraordinary journey of coaching his daughters to become world beaters as it is about the stereotypical mindset that our society suffers from. Somewhere in between it also talks a bit about the role of a coach and the importance of backing one’s natural instinct and ability.

It is not easy to make sports film based on a real life story. The audience is already aware about the outcome, yet every time Geeta goes for her bout they bite their nail, cheer for her.  And that is where credit must be given to director Nitesh Tiwari and the screen play writers. They keep the narrative engaging. They bring out the struggle beautifully. The wrestling matches have been shot skilfully to create tension.  The songs are beautifully woven into the narrative to take the story forward and the lyrics are peppy and hilarious.

But the biggest achievement of Dangal is the way each of its character has performed. Each character has been picked carefully. Mukesh Chabbra , who has done some fabulous work earlier as well , once again comes out with flying colours as the casting director. Sakshi Tanwar as Mahavir’s wife who is balancing between helping his husband to fulfil his dream and yet being a doting mother to her daughters does a fabulous job. Aparshakti Khurana as Mahabir’s nephew and the narrator of the story adds panache. Zaira Wasim and Suhani Bhatnagar effortlessly slip into the shoes of Geeta & Babita . They are a delight to watch. But it is debutant Fatima Sana Sheikh, who plays the grown up Geeta , steals the show with a superlative performance. And yes Dangal also has Aamir Khan giving arguably his finest performance till date.  The way he has transformed himself for the role is commendable. And yet he doesn’t come across towering over others and that is a testament to the quality of acting in Dangal.

It is the climax that becomes a bit contrived in an otherwise fine film and that is a bit of a letdown But then Dangal is an important film of our time, it tells us once again what women of our country are capable of, it tells us the importance of gut and grit, it tells us how little we know about real life heroes and above all it makes a statement about how we must change our mindset. This sure deserves a podium finish.

 I will go out with 4 out of 5 for a film that reiterates “A man can’t be defeated .....” As Mahavir would have said Sabbash !