Is Dangal a true story? Know truth about the highest grossing Indian film of all time

Dangal is a biographical drama sports film directed by Nitish Tiwari that released in December 2016. The film follows a pehelwani amateur wrestler Mahavir Singh Photgat who trains his daughters Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari to become India's first world-class female wrestlers. The film was a record-breaking commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film ever, the highest-grossing sports film worldwide, and the fifth highest-grossing non-English film ever. So is Dangal a true story? 

Is Dangal a true story?

Dangal is loosely based on the Phogat family in Haryana. According to Mans World India, Mahavir Singh trained under Chandgi Ram, a Padma Shri winner, in Delhi after which he became a successful mercenary wrestler and won numerous dangals in various villages of Himachal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and other states. Mahavir decided to train his daughters in the year 2000 when Indian weightlifter Karnam Malaeshwari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. He trained his daughters in a sport that was traditionally male-dominated and in a state which was known for gender inequality and low sex ratio. Phogat quit his job at the Haryana State Electricity Board to give more time to his daughter’s training and the girls used to practice with the boys since there were no other girls who practiced this sport at the time. However, people did not let them fight at local dangals due to conservative views and he took them to the Sports Authority of India Centre in Sonipat where they trained further.

While the movie based on a real story, director Nitish Tiwari allowed himself some cinematic liberties. According to The Better India, while the movie showed that Mahavir Phogat desperately wanted a boy to win a gold medal for the country but gets four girls instead, in reality, it was his wife who wished for a boy since girls were considered as a liability in the 80s. In the movie, Geeta Phogat did not win a single tournament before the Commonwealth Game in 2010, but in reality, she won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship in 2009, in the 55kg freestyle wrestling category. In the movie, Geeta struggled to win the gold medal match in which scores a five-pointer in the nail-biting final round with a scoreline of 5-1, 4-6, and 6-5. However, in reality, she completely dominated her opponent and won the match in just two rounds and her scoreline was 1-0, 7-0.

Dangal Movie review and awards

Dangal received positive reviews from the critics and praise was centered on the film's honest depiction of the real-life story. The film was also screened at Beijing International Film Festival in April 2017 and the second BRICS festival in June 2017. Dangal won the Best Asian Film award at Australia’s 7th AACTA Awards, 2017s Best Foreign Film at China's Daouban Film Awards, and two Jackie Chan Action Movie Awards. The film won Best Film and Best Action Awards at the 62nd Filmfare Awards.

Promo Image Source: Still from Dangal trailer