‘More girls will now take to wrestling’
NEW DELHI: They faced opposition from the community when they started wrestling and yet went on to win gold medals for the country. Now, with “Dangal” bringing alive their journey to success, Geeta and Babita Phogat hope that such movies will motivate many Indians to push their daughters into sports.
Even though the Phogat sisters were stars in their own right, “Dangal” has lent them a newfound stardom.
They feel their life has changed a little after the release of the Nitesh Tiwari directorial, which stars Aamir Khan as their father, former national level wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat of Balali village in Haryana’s Bhiwani district.
“Life has definit e l y changed now. I can now see sports in India getting the acknowledgment it deserves. People recognise us and it’s a completely different feeling,” Geeta told IANS at a recent meet- and-greet with fans at the DLF Promenade here.
Babita, too, is overjoyed about the critical and com- mercial success of “Dangal” and hopes it will motivate more parents to urge their children to pursue sports as a career.
“It’s nice to see that your family and your struggle can now be seen by the world through this film. The biggest achievement is that people will know about our struggles and more families will support girls in their houses to participate in sports,” Babita said.. Geeta, 28, won India’s first-ever gold in women’s wrestling (55 kg freestyle category) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. She and Babita, 27, later claimed a bronze medal each in the Women’s World Wrestling Championship in Canada in 2012.
Babita then won a gold medal in the women’s 55 kg freestyle category at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Watching “Dangal” — in which Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra play the contemporary Geeta and Babita, and Zaira Wasim and Suhani Bhatnagar their younger avatars — made the family emotional, but happy too.