Trailer Review: Dangal

Post the remarkable success of PK (2014), Aamir Khan is back with his most-awaited ambitious project - Dangal  - a sports biopic based on the life of coach and wrestler, Mahavir Singh Phogat, directed and written by Nitesh Tiwari. Produced by Aamir Khan Productions and Disney World Cinema, the movie also stars the popular television actress Sakshi Tanwar essaying the character of Phogat's wife, alongside Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Zaira Wasim, Suhani Bhatnagar, Aparshakti Khurrana in pivotal roles. Vikram Singh and Vivan Bhathena are said to portray negative characters.

Not surprisingly, the trailer of this movie has excellence spelled all over it. It opens with a middle-aged wrestler, Mahavir Phogat (Khan), drowned in dejection. Despite being immensely passionate about his profession, Phogat's dream of winning a medal for his country remains unfulfilled. With his wife (Tanwar) expecting, he decides to hand down all his yearning to his unborn sons. Over the years, his wife bears four beautiful daughters, leaving Phogat's dreams shattered and buried. Realization dawns upon him after an incident in his teenage daughters' (Wasim and Bhatnagar) lives forces him to believe that they've got his genes and are born wrestlers, despite being of the fairer sex. How he bestows his daughters with the legacy of determination and sportsmanship forms the crux of the story.

Sports biopics and feministic flicks are no sensations in today's time but history testifies that their combination is definitely a rare one. Khan is renowned for his unparalleled creativity and spirit. His transformation in terms of the typical Haryanvi accent and portraying three different ages on-screen is incredible. There is a powerful aura that he radiates and that moulds his persuasive screen presence. Tanwar has never had the need to prove her acting prowess and is absolutely endearing as Shobha Kaur, the innocent and submissive wife of Mahavir Singh Phogat.

Debuting as a child artist in Chachi 420 (1997), and playing supporting characters in films like Akaash Vani (2013), Shaikh is here to stay. She is terrific in her personification of the eldest daughter, Geeta Phogat. Although there isn't much of her in the trailer, she is exceptional in the few scenes she has, especially the brawls. Malhotra marks her debut in Bollywood and is quite convincing as Babita Kumari, Phogat's second daughter.

Director-writer Tiwari is phenomenal. The efforts of the writing team comprising of Piyush Gupta, Shreyas Jain, Nikhil Mehrotra, and Tiwari himself seem top-notch.  The trailer seems as overwhelming as a movie itself, all credits to the technical team and especially to editor Ballu Saluja. We couldn't hear much of Pritam Chakraborty's music, but we're hoping he won't disappoint.

The Phogats' story deserves to be told and no one better than Khan to be the torchbearer. The trailer is a sure-shot winner, both cinematically and performance-wise. There's no denying that Dangal is definitely the critically acclaimed blockbuster 2016 has been waiting for. We at BollyCurry, rate this trailer a whopping 4.5 out of 5, with mad props to Aamir Khan for experimenting with unconventional stories so magnificently. While the movie releases on 23rd December, 2016, we urge you to tune into YouTube or your favourite video streaming website to give the trailer a watch. Let us warn you that this one does not deserve a miss!

Writer: Anushka J.

Editors: Ritchelle C. and Gunia K.

Graphics: Aisha S.