Dangal: Bollywood at Its Best

2016 has been a heinous year but at least it is ending with an Aamir Khan movie. And what a movie. Much like Lagaan, Dangal is a sports movie that transcends the genre, making you laugh, cry, and cheer for a blissful two and half hours. This is cinematic entertainment at its finest, conveying humor, warmth, and a message that is hammered home without being too preachy. It's a feat worthy of a gold medal.

The movie tells the true-life story of Mahavir Singh Phogat (played by Aamir Khan) and his two daughters Geeta and Babita (played by Zaira Wasim and Suhani Bhatnagar as children, and Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra as adults). Mahavir was a wrestler with ambitions of winning a gold in international competition, but given the general lack of infrastructure and support for such ambitions, he was forced to abandon his dreams and get a job instead. He decides he will have a son who will win the gold medal he could not get himself, at which point his wife proceeds to give birth to four daughters in rapid succession. Mahavir puts aside his dreams, but one day, when an irate woman appears on his doorstep to complain that his two eldest daughters, Geeta and Babita, have mercilessly beat her sons to a pulp, it dawns on Mahavir that a gold is a gold regardless of the gender of the child who wins it. And from there we launch into a surprisingly feminist tale that is all the more remarkable for its being a true story.

The soundtrack by Pritam, with gleefully irreverent and funny lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya, is the perfect accompaniment to this film. The title track is one of those rousing numbers that make it impossible not to pump your fist and each song is calculated to make you cheer for Geeta and Babita as they go around wrestling men and women to the ground. The moral of the story is pretty typical Indian fare - don't treat your daughters as housewives who are incapable of anything more than getting married and having children. It's sad that this still needs to be said in 2016, but at least it's being said in a more spirited and enthusiastic fashion than any other Bollywood movie I've seen to date. There are also plenty of digs at India's unimpressive Olympic and international sports record, highlighting the corruption and bureaucracy that ensure a country of more than a billion people can still find it so impossible to win a gold medal every four years. Like with every Aamir Khan film, I imagine there will be some kind of public outcry and India will win twenty gold medals at the next international sporting event. But more importantly, I hope there will be many girls who are inspired to cut their hair, slap on some shorts (oh the horror of bared legs!), and go out into the world with the confidence that their purpose is not restricted to household chores.

Dangal is a glorious movie, one that manages to educate and entertain in equal measure without being sanctimonious. Thanks to co-writer and director Nitesh Tiwari, it also moves at a brisk pace and is incredibly funny, full of situations and one-liners that keep the tone light and breezy. Special mention must also be given to Kripa Shankar Bishnoi, the coach who trained the actors for the wrestling sequences that pepper the entire film - I was spellbound for every expertly choreographed match, despite knowing nothing about wrestling when I went into the theatre. If you've never seen a Bollywood movie before, this is probably an excellent way to start. You won't be bored for an instant, and you'll learn a lot about wrestling, traditional Indian culture, and the modern women (and supportive fathers) who are demolishing those traditions in the best possible way.