Earlier today, Aamir Khan got into some trouble when PS Sondhi, who coached Geeta Phogat for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, said his portrayal in the film was completely untrue. Sondhi added that his character was made negative for no reason and that he and Mahavir Singh Phogat had a cordial relationship. Now Aamir has responded to the allegations, telling ANI, “In every biopic, a little fiction is added, but essence of their story is kept intact.” So Aamir admits that the film was dramatised a bit, but does that make it okay to villainise someone who helped the Phogat sisters achieve their success. Earlier, the Phogat sisters had admitted that the film was 99% true and 1% fiction. Perhaps this was the 1% they were referring to?
“I haven’t watch the movie, but I’ve come to know that the the onscreen coach was given a lighter role. Mahavirji is thorough gentleman. Not once did he interfere in training. His daughters were disciplined – always listened,” Sondhi had said earlier. While the coach has said he won’t file a defamation case against the Dangal team for tainting his image, he did address the controversial scene in the film where Aamir’s character was locked in a closet. “Media wouldn’t have let it go if this happened at Commonwealth Games. They (the Dangal team) wronged coach in the film,” he said.
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Many have noted that the film purposefully villainised the coach (played by Girish Kulkarni) just to gain the audience’s sympathy for Aamir. Dangal spared viewers of glorifying Mahavir Singh and realistically portraying him in shades of good and bad. Unfortunately in the latter half of the film, the makers undermined the coach simply to keep Aamir’s character relevant. Well, at least the real Mahavir Singh is happy about his portrayal, so perhaps the distortion of facts wasn’t all that bad?