Dangal movie review: It will make you laugh, cry and then blow whistles in the theatre

RATING: 4.5/5

Aamir Khan has appeared on screen after two years as he was busy making one of the most awaited movies of 2016 – Dangal. The film has now been released and the wait was definitely worth it.

Read: Dangal Critics Review | Celebs Review | Box Office Report

Based on the life of ace wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and his two daughters – Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari – Dangal shows the emotional and physical struggle that the two girls went through to fulfil their father's biggest dream. Although the movie is very emotionally driven, it is well mixed with a good amount of humour and entertainment.

Photos: Dangal Stills | Celebs at Special Screening | Aamir's Body Transformation

PLOT

Aamir plays the character of Mahavir, who is at the peak of his wrestling career but has to quit his dream of winning a gold medal for his country on the international platform due to monetary pressures. Mahavir marries Daya Shobha Kaur, played by Sakshi Tanwar, and he starts thinking that his son will fulfill his dream that he could not.

Read: Shah Rukh Khan is part of Aamir Khan's Dangal...here's how

However, Mahavir's hopes crash when he became a father of four daughters and did not have a son. One day, parents of two boys in the neighbourhood visit Mahavir with a complaint that Geeta and Babita beat his two teenager sons black and blue. This made Mahavir realise that his daughters are no less than boys and then he decides to train them and make them good enough to bring a wrestling gold medal for the country.

Then starts a rigorous training session for the two teenage girls and that is when they begin thinking Mahavir as a "Hanikarak Bapu" (harmful father). However, Geeta and Babita soon get matured enough to understand the value of Mahavir's dream, and they impress him with their dedication.

Although Mahavir faces a lot of criticism from the society for making his daughters wrestle with boys, the negative words soon turn into praises after Geeta won hearts with her wrestling prowess at such a tender age.

Having won the national level competition, Geeta then gets into the National Sports Academy to get herself prepared for the international level competition and then some differences start growing between her and Mahavir. Eventually, her performance inside the ring also gets affected. Whether and how Geeta fulfils her father's dream makes the crux of the story of Dangal.

PERFORMANCES

Aamir is known as Mr Perfectionist and his performance in Dangal just shows why. Apart from the tremendous physical transformation that he underwent for the film, Aamir portrayed the emotions of a father in a way that touches the heart.

Zaira Wasim, who played the teenage version of Geeta, is impressive with the wrestling stunts and her expressions in the movie. Suhani Bhatnagar portrayed the character of young Babita and she too did the job to perfection.

Debutant Fatima Sana Shaikh played the major character of Geeta as a professional wrestler. She has a number of fighting sequences in the movie and her performance suggests that the newbie has shed much sweat and blood for the purpose. Sanya Malhotra appeared in the adult version of Babita. Although she does not have much of fight sequences in the film, she plays a major role in the movie and does full justice to that. Sakshi also enacted the character of a village housewife in Haryana with proper accent and posture.

Ayushmann Khurrana's brother Aparshakti Khurrana made his debut with Dangal and he appeared to be a pleasant surprise in the film. He played the role of a son of Mahavir's brother in the movie and adds quite a number of funny moments in it. Apart from Aamir and Sakshi, all the major stars in the movie are new but their performance does not at all reflect that.

POSITIVES

Dangal has a very strong storyline and director Nitsh Tiwari made it in a way that instantly touches the hearts of the audience. It has all the necessary elements of entertainment, humour, action, thrill in complete balance. The characters' struggle to fulfil the big dream is praiseworthy and the makers of Dangal portrayed it on celluloid in the most entertaining manner.

NEGATIVES

Although there is not much to add for Dangal in this section, beginning of the second half of the movie may appear little slow to the audience.

VERDICT

Dangal is a movie that will make you laugh, then will make you cry and in the end, will make you blow whistles in the theatre. It is a wholesome movie with some brilliant performances and an inspiring plot. A must watch, definitely.