DANGAL movie review: Remember what CHAK DE did for hockey and women? DANGAL does the same for wrestling and women.
A Good sport biopic film invests you in the protagonists and intrigues you into the sport, while a great one makes you fall in love with both. DANGAL, then, oscillates in between- rising above than just being good but falling short of being great.(Only if it could have done without the caricature villainous Indian coach).
For all those who thought of DANGAL as SULTAN 2.0, DANGAL is actually what SULTAN could never be.
DANGAL paves the way of how a sport biopic film should be - insightful, moving and inspiring. Maybe not entirely, but predominantly.
When the opening credits are rolled out, we see the haryana dialect advisor's name along with the wrestling advisor's name (Arjun awardee), and you know that the filmakers had put in the extra effort and done the research requisite for a sport biopic.(The film gets the wrestling moves spot on, a commendable effort).
The success of a sport biopic is when the journey of the protagonists absorbs the viewers. Their plight, their efforts, their pain, their rise, their fall and eventually their redemption all sweeping the viewers along the way. What happens to them on the screen, alters the chemicals in your blood. DANGAL does that to you.
DANGAL smells of the 'akahadas mitti' and feels like the 'thud on the wrestling mat'.
The father's desperation, the girls initial aversion, their transformed passion all having the emotional depth.
The 'Kushti in the Akhaadas' and the 'Wrestling in the tournaments' competently and splendidly executed.(Never before they seemed so real).
SULTAN had one Superstar(Salman Khan) playing the character to his whims and fancies, whereas DANGAL has another superstar(Aamir Khan)becoming the character. What you see on screen is Mahavir Singh Phogat, the father and not Aamir Khan, the star. Fantastic portrayal.
DANGAL wins your heart, Mahavir Phogat wins your heart, the Girls win your heart. You cry when they cry, you smile when they smile and you celebrate when they celebrate.
Go watch it.
