Dangal (2016)

best movie i've ever seen.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Great atmosphere with great actress and of course amir khann difference. You can surely watch and feel the emotions of the true story.

I watched this with my girlfriend on a lazy afternoon. We were looking for random movies, and went with this just for a laugh. From the beginning to the end, we were kept entertained, and had many a laughter and jokes to share. My girlfriend's from China whilst I am from Singapore, but the context was still all so endearing. I believe any viewers would be able to get the humour and heartwarming story behind it all. I usually hate the word heartwarming as most movies of that genre disgust me. But this was a pleasant kind. The actor and actresses had so much chemistry and were stellar! The action was not Michael Bay certified but definitely kept me going "WHOAAA DAYUMM!" Definitely worth your time. The only reason I did not give it a 10/10 overall was because I felt that the older actresses did not portray the same feelings as their respective child actors, although most people would fail to notice!

Looking out to watch this blockbuster hit for a long time, I got my chance only a few weeks back. I had faith that Aamir Khan, the certified perfectionist would definitely do a flawless job. We have seen many father characters on screen showering their love on their daughters. But the love and adoration shown here is distinctively exemplary. As the movie starts, we get the feeling that the father Mahavir Singh (Aamir Khan) is imposing his desires on his daughters. But as the movie progressed, I started wishing that girls get such supportive fathers who are dedicated to bringing out the best in their daughters and show them to the world. The daughters, both younger and older versions have given a splendid performance. The younger girls portrayed a naive appearance in the beginning that we wonder how the transformation to heavyweight wrestlers was possible. But I realized that putting on weight to become hefty is not necessary, just a tremendous amount of stamina and willpower. The wrestling scenes have been worked in good detail. More that being a sports movie, this movie spells of female empowerment in the real sense and the forward thinking of a father that a girl's life should not be spent in the kitchen alone. Hats off to the real Mahavir Singh, Geeta Phogat and Babita Phogat for being such grand role models.

Most of the reviewers for this film here on IMDb appear to be folks of Indian background; nothing wrong with that but with most of them offering glowing praise and a '10 rating, it's difficult to get a true perspective on the movie. I thought it was OK, though not a '10' rated film by any means. The picture utilizes a tried and true sports movie formula depicting a rigorous training schedule, a demanding coach and notable accomplishments along the way before the principal character encounters some roadblocks on the way to a Commonwealth Games gold medal. There's also the idea of success achieved by defying conventional thinking, in the way Geeta Phogat (Fatima Sana Shaikh) and her sister Babita (Sanya Malhotra) rise to prominence in the traditionally male sport of wrestling. That's perhaps the film's best takeaway, as the girls in question endured a lot of physical and mental anguish to achieve their goals, thereby serving as role models for other young women to follow.I couldn't help thinking however, that if the setting for this film was present day America, the father (Aamir Khan) might never have gotten past the first month of training his daughters because someone would have turned him in for child abuse. Cutting the girls' hair and restricting their diet would have gotten someone to notice, and Mahavir slapping his young nephew Omkar for some slight was totally uncalled for. It might not have appeared so bad if the man had lightened up his approach from time to time but his expression was always so grim it looked like he was mad at the world. One could say that his style eventually paid off in the end, but the emotional toll on his daughters, especially Geeta, could have been avoided with a more 'fatherly' approach. The one American film this most reminded me of was 1984's "The Karate Kid", but without a bully opponent and with national prestige at stake in the tournament matches. The film makers for that earlier movie put together a compelling and entertaining story in just about two hours, The additional forty minutes of screen time in "Dangal" is padded by repetitious scenes of training activity in the early part of the story that aren't all that necessary, while others are characteristically set to a musical accompaniment that seems to be a trademark of Hindi films. I did like the realism involved in staging the wrestling matches throughout the story, and the climactic final match was filled with suspense. With seconds to go, one will recall Mahavir's earlier explanation of the point scoring system, fully hoping that Geeta would somehow manage a five point take-down to insure a victory. The fact that this movie was based on the real life story of Mahavir Phogat and his wrestling daughters make it all the more fascinating.