Aamir Khan's Dangal is still regarded as one of the best sports drama films, having made and broken several box office records. As per Sacnilk, the film grossed Rs 2070 crores worldwide and is still the highest-grossing film in India. Nitesh Tiwari's directorial is based on the lives of Indian wrestler Mahavir Phogat and his daughters, Geeta Phogat and Babita Phogat.
Recently former wrestler and politician Babita Phogat made some shocking revelations related to the film and the minuscule remuneration the family received. Babita also claimed that the Aamir Khan team ignored them and their request after the movie became a blockbuster.
In a recent chat with News 24, Babita recalled how the film came to an inception and impacted her life. She said, “A journalist from Chandigarh wrote an article about them, which led Nitesh Tiwari’s team to reach out with the intent of a documentary. “The director himself came and spoke to us all. Then, he just told us that he would make a documentary on us. This was around 2010. But, later after writing it, he shared he would like to make a film."
Babita further added that Nitesh Tiwari narrated the story to the family first. At that time, the makers didn’t lock the casting. "My entire family was quite emotional. When I watched the film for the first time, it seemed like I went back into my childhood. I was emotional," Babita asserted.
When asked how much the filmmakers paid her for her story rights, Babita claimed she got very little money. "I got very little money. You will be surprised to know after the entire story was written, they even discussed removing my name from the film altogether. They wanted to change the character’s name in the film."
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Before the Phogat family appeared on Aamir's show Satyameva Jayate, the Dangal makers approached them with a proper script. However, after the show, the makers wanted to change the character names. Babita Phogat said that her father refused to give the film's story if the makers won't retain the real character names. "It was after this, that Aamir Khan’s team called us and said they want to change the characters' names. But then my dad was not okay with it. He said, if you want to make the film, then it is going to be our real names. The fees for the rights were decided much before they wrote the story, which was not even 1% of its total earnings”, revealed Babita. When further asked how much she got, Babita revealed she was paid Rs 1 crore only.
The former wrestler further revealed that after the movie was released, Mahavir sought Aamir’s team to open a wrestling academy in Haryana, but they ignored the request. “After the film’s success, my dad spoke to Aamir’s team and requested them to help us open an academy in Haryana for wrestlers, but that was ignored. It takes about Rs 5-6 crore to open a nice academy.” Dangal also stars Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Aparshakti Khurana, and Sakshi Tanwar in key roles.
Read: Meet pan India superstar who gave two Rs 1000 crore films, made Bollywood debut with Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha
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