Dangal (2016)

India, United States of America

Drama, Family, Comedy, Action, Bollywood Movies, Hindi Movies

Aamir Khan Productions, Walt Disney Pictures, UTV Motion Pictures

Aamir Khan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Zaira Wasim, Suhani Bhatnagar, Aparshakti Khurana

Nitesh Tiwari

Piyush Gupta, Shreyas Jain, Nitesh Tiwari, Nikhil Mehrotra

NA

small town, strong woman, sports, parent child relationship, empowerment, abusive father, feminism, wrestling, training, biography, autobiography, domestic abuse, fighting, womanhood, endurance, woman vs woman fight, female empowerment, determination, strength training, overcoming fears, father daughter relationship

Dangal is an extraordinary true story based on the life of Mahavir Singh and his two daughters, Geeta and Babita Phogat. The film traces the inspirational journey of a father who trains his daughters to become world class wrestlers.

Reviews:

Author: Svumpukkel85
An inspiring feel-good true story about fighting for a dream that only you can see. Most importantly this movie dares to put up a fight fighting against old Indian traditions and female prejudice. Two daughters overcome heavy obstacles to become world famous Indian wrestlers, with the support and motivation of their father and trainer. It is a very colorful, well-made lighthearted entertainment. The acting is fine, and the characters are relatable. A drawback is that it is way too long for a one-night-movie, and should have been made into a mini-series. Overlooking the abuse-aspect: I think it is important to say that personally, I don't agree with most of the methods the father used to train, strengthen and harden his daughters, as a lot of actually was serious child abuse. Their mother also acts as the passive typical enabler. To make it worse, the movie dismisses and jokes about the psychological hurt on the daughters as if it didn't do any damage. In Europe, the father would have been jailed and the kids taken away by CPS. I think it is a big misunderstanding to glorify abusive behavior, but I guess Indians still have to learn that you can motivate your children without abusing them.