Aamir Khan's latest venture Dangal opened to a rocking Rs. 100 crore weekend, making it the second most successful film after Salman Khan's Sultan in 2016. Despite touching millions of hearts across the country though, the filmmakers and producers could soon face legal trouble over the allegedly false portrayal of wrestling coach PR Kadam, the on-screen character whose life is loosely based on PR Sondhi.
The 2010 CWG Women's wrestling coach was the only negative character in the film. Speaking to Sportskeeda Sondhi said, “I know for a fact that Mahavir Phogat will never say such things to the filmmakers as he is a gentleman. I have not seen the film yet, but the facts told to me by my students highlight things that I didn't do. Firstly, there were as many as 5 coaches, including foreign ones from Georgia. Why was I depicted as the only one?
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“Secondly, the door closing thing? That is preposterous; just to spice things up you can't defame me, can you? I know the name isn't the same, but it's quite evident that I'm the person being referred to here,” he added.
Aamir Khan didn’t discuss final sequence, says Sondhi
Sondhi went on, “For the past two decades I have been in the national set-up, working with the Government of India and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). I met Aamir Khan in Ludhiana regarding the film and he didn't discuss the final sequence at all. If inputs were taken from me, then why create such fictional events about me?
“If you ask Geeta right now, I'm quite sure she will deny it. Also, Mahavir never interfered with the coach's work during tournaments. Apparently in the film, there is heavy interaction between both parties about progress.”
Distorting of facts hurts my reputation: Sondhi
The particular sequence which offended Sondhi is the one which showed him brimming with jealousy when Geeta congratulated her father on her final qualification. The scene then progresses to Kadam locking Mahavir inside a dark room, so that he couldn't attend the final.
Sondhi said, “It made it spicy but didn't really convey anything of what actually happened. Everything was amicable, but distorting of facts just hurts my reputation. (My work was) something which saw me become national wrestling coach. I will watch the film and take a call whether to take some serious legal action or not.”
According to industry experts, Dangal could eclipse Sultan some time next month in terms of box office returns. But this particular case could create some bad publicity for the film.
