Aamir Khan starrer “Dangal” is being termed as Mr. Perfectionist’s best film till date and this is supported by not only box-office figures but also reviews given by critics. As far as the Indian critics are concerned, they are totally bowled over by the power-packed performances of Aamir and other actors.
The film has been directed by Nitesh Tiwari and the story of the movie is about an Indian wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat who trained his two daughters Geeta and Babita to become wrestlers. Aamir has played the character of Mahavir Singh Phogat while Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra have portrayed the role of his daughters.
The foreign critics, however, have not been so nice to “Dangal” and stated that the movie is too crowd-pleasing and formula-based.
Let’s read what the foreign critics have to say about the flick:
Ben Kenigberg of New York Times writes that Dangal is too much formula based, and wherever the movie goes, “it goes there in the maximalist Bollywood style, with emotions set to full blast and its heart firmly on its sleeve.”
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman called Dangal, “a one-trick domestic sports drama that drags on for two hours and 40 minutes.” He also compared the movie with Lagaan and PK when it comes to the duration but he is not satisfied with Dangal.
Gleiberman writes,
“If the movie has a theme, it’s that Mahavir is a patriarchal thinker forced, by circumstance, to move into the 21st century. He’s a lot like India itself. That means, among other things, that he’s going to treat his daughters with no mercy. When they’re teenagers, he subjects them to a grueling training regimen (worst restriction: no spicy food), and the defining moment comes when he cuts off their hair. It’s a lot like a Marine cut; as the two see it, they’ve been shorn (tearfully) of their identities, which their father will now rebuild from the ground up. There is — or could have been — a resonance to all of this. But Nitesh Tiwari, the director of “Dangal,” works strictly on the surface.”
Guardian’s Mike McCahill calls Dangal a “crowd-pleasing” movie as he writes,
“As with most of this Khan’s crowdpleasers, it’s acutely attuned to wider realities: beyond the mat, the Singhs encounter superstition, child brides and institutional slackness, each sidebar reflecting a social struggle.”
Mike further adds,
“Very solid, very sound entertainment, with thumpingly good Pritam songs that make Eye of the Tiger seem like pipsqueakery.”
What do you think about it? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below.
