Babita Phogat reveals family only received ₹1cr for ₹2,000cr-grosser 'Dangal'
Babita Phogat, the real-life inspiration for blockbuster Dangal, has revealed she and her family were paid a paltry ₹1cr for their story rights by the film's producers. The 2016 movie, starring Aamir Khan in the lead and directed by Nitesh Tiwari, earned over ₹2,070cr globally. In a recent interview with News 24, Phogat revealed this and also said a post-success request to fund an academy in their village was ignored by the filmmakers.
'I didn't get a lot of money'
When asked about the payment for her story rights, a visibly hesitant Phogat revealed, "I didn't get a lot of money. I got very less money." "The fees for the rights was decided much before they wrote the story, which was not even 1% of its total earning." When further probed about the exact amount by the interviewer, she hinted it was just around ₹1cr.
'It takes about ₹5-6cr to open a nice academy'
Phogat also revealed that after the film's success, her father went to Khan's team with a request. "My dad spoke to Aamir's team and requested them to help us open an academy in Haryana for wrestlers, but that was ignored. It takes about ₹5-6cr to open a nice academy." This revelation adds another layer of complexity to the relationship between the Phogat family and makers of Dangal. Khan aside, Dangal also starred Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, and Sakshi Tanwar.
Phogat shared her emotional journey with 'Dangal'
Phogat elaborated on how Dangal was conceived, starting with an article written by a Chandigarh journalist which piqued interest in their story. "After reading it, Nitesh Tiwari's team approached us. Then the director himself came and spoke to us all. At that point in time, he just told us that he would make a documentary on us." "But, later after writing it, he shared he would like to make a film."
'They wanted to change the character's name in the film'
Further, Phogat revealed there were talks of removing her name from the film. "You will be surprised to know, after the entire story was written, they were even having a discussion to remove my name from the film altogether. They wanted to change the character's name in the film." "But then my dad was not okay with it. He said, if you want to make the film, then it is going to be our real names."
