Film review: “Dangal” hits a homerun

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Owing to censorship, it is indeed arduous for producers to generate appealing movies with  restrictions that are already in place. But recently, a Bollywood movie, Dangal, or Let’s Wrestle, an inspiring and extraordinary movie which has challenged the stereotypical boundaries of India’s wrestling, has reaped more than 643 million yuen (US 93.3 million) on the mainland, which is more than double of what it earned back home in India, only half a month after it was released on May 5th. What makes this film so appealing?

 

Based on a true story, the plot kick off with a series of great performances from a former local amateur wrestling champion, Mahavir Singh Phogat. His pilgrimage to be the champion of the wrestling world comes to a halt due to family poverty. Worse still, fate goes against his wish of nurturing his future son into a wrestling champion by giving him four daughters.To the audience and Mahavir, his dream seems unlikely to become a reality. Nevertheless, he discovers his daughters’ potential in wrestling after his daughters are involved in a fight with their neighbors, after which he decides to mould his daughters into world wrestling champions. While Mahavir’s daughters’ endure a great deal of sarcastic comments and discrimination behind their backs over their childhood, Phogat commits to nurturing them and is steadfast to his decision on breaking the traditional stereotype of male wrestling. The daughters’ hard-work pays off by winning in a number of competitions, which then paves way for their success in wrestling.

 

Feeling the same as many, I am deeply impressed by the message the movie conveys to its audience. It truly highlights some cruel social context in India: the traditional preference for boys over girls, collusion between officials, authoritarian parenting styles, and child marriage in India. Amid debates over the parenting style of Mahavir, I am sickened of how he ruthlessly imposes his ambitions on his daughters, disrupts his daughters’ childhoods and ignores the humiliation his daughters face. Even though the daughters may end up marrying a stranger, they have the right to choose their own path as the costs of becoming an athlete is unpredictable. What if they don't become champions? Who is to blame if they are seriously injured or worse?

 

The physical training undertaken by the actors and actresses behind the scenes cannot go without significant praise. To my surprise, the petite actresses that play Mahavir’s daughters had been trained for a total of nine months, an immense feat considering the amount of physical strength needed for the intense wrestling for the film. The main actor, Aamir Khan, ate excessively to form a big belly in order to play his role as Mahavir, a retired wrestler. Having a weight of 97 kilograms and 38% body fat made it impossible to become muscular, Ammir Khan said, to film the remaining scenes. But he made the impossible possible by reducing his body fat to 9.67% over five months.                 

 

References:

http://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2107372/film-review-dangal-aamir-khan-teaches-daughters-wrestle-women

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2095053/how-bollywood-film-topped-chinas-box-office-and-opened-debate

https://www.hk01.com/%E5%9C%8B%E9%9A%9B/98186/-%E6%89%93%E6%AD%BB%E4%B8%8D%E9%9B%A23%E7%88%B6%E5%A5%B3-%E5%85%A7%E5%9C%B0%E7%88%86%E7%B4%85-%E9%81%93%E5%87%BA%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B%E5%BD%B1%E6%A5%AD%E9%9B%A3%E4%BB%A5%E8%B6%85%E8%B6%8A%E7%9A%84%E8%B7%9D%E9%9B%A2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er8WFHOZ2qM

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