The year-end blockbuster Dangal received rave reviews from critics and fans alike and crossed the Rs. 100 crore club in its opening weekend. However, the film has been criticised by PR Sondhi, a wrestling coach who trained the real Phogat sisters for three years, for wrongfully portraying their father (played by Aamir Khan) as a harsh taskmaster. Aamir Khan has now responded to Sondhi’s criticism by saying that “some bit of fiction” had to be added to the story, but the film had captured the essence of the Phogats’ story.
The 51-year-old actor told reporters that the scene where Phogat is locked up was indeed fictional. He said, “No, he was not actually locked up in the room. Like in every biopic, some bit of fiction is added but the spirit of the story of Mahavir, Geeta and Babita is intact. There may be a few incidents here and there which may not have happened exactly that way but in essence it is their story.”
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The role of the national coach is played by Girish Kulkarni under the name PR Kadam. Kadam is seen locking up Aamir Khan before the Commonwealth wrestling final in the 55 kg category. The coach had said that “no such thing had happened at all” in reality. He said, “There were five other coaches. There were wrestling officials and media. If anything like it had happened, it must have been picked by media. Besides, Mahavir is a thorough gentleman who never interfered during coaching of his daughters who were trained alongwith other girls.”
Sondhi’s main question about why Aamir Khan included this particular bit of fiction, and in what way this enhances the story, remains unanswered.