Aamir Khan’s film ‘Dangal’ is inspired by the real-life story of:

Concept

Biographical sports films dramatise the documented life of a specific real person; identifying the inspiration means matching the film’s central true story to the individual whose life it depicts.

Application

‘Dangal’ (2016) portrays a Haryanvi former amateur wrestler who, denied his own chance at a national title, trains his daughters Geeta and Babita to become champion wrestlers — culminating in Geeta winning gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. That documented life belongs to Mahavir Singh Phogat, the wrestler-coach and father of the Phogat sisters; Aamir Khan plays this father figure on screen.

Contrast

The other names are real Indian sporting figures whose stories are not the basis of this film:

• Dara Singh — a celebrated professional wrestler and actor of an earlier era; his life inspired other tributes, not this father-trains-daughters narrative.

• Sushil Kumar Solanki — a men’s freestyle wrestler and Olympic medallist, an individual athlete’s career rather than a coaching-his-daughters story.

• Sakshi Malik — a woman wrestler and Olympic bronze medallist; she is a wrestler in her own right, not the parent-coach the film centres on.