Babita Phogat skyrocketed to fame after the blockbuster Bollywood film Dangal, featuring Aamir Khan, captured her inspiring story on celluloid. The film raked in a staggering Rs 2070 crore globally, as reported by Sacnilk. However, in a shocking twist, the Phogat family only received a mere Rs 1 crore for selling their story rights to the filmmakers — Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, and Siddharth Roy Kapur — under Aamir Khan Productions, UTV Motion Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures India. In a recent interview with News 24, the former wrestler detailed how the film came to be made and the impact it has had on her life.
Babita recalled, “A journalist from Chandigarh wrote an article about them, which led Nitesh Tiwari’s team to reach out with the intent of a documentary. “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. This was around 2010. But, later after writing it, he shared he would like to make a film.”
She continued, “Nitesh Tiwari narrated the story to us all first. At that time, they didn’t even know who they would cast for the roles. My entire family was quiet emotional. When I watched the film for the first time, it seemed like I went back into my childhood. I was emotional.”
When asked how much the filmmakers paid her for her story rights, especially since the film earned Rs 2070 crore worldwide, Babita said she got very little money. “I got very less money. 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,” she said.
They wrote the story and shared it with the family before they appeared on Aamir Khan’s show Satyamev Jayate. “It was after this, Aamir Khan’s team called us and said they want to change the characters names. 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. The fees for the rights was decided much before they wrote the story, which was not even 1% of its total earnings”, revealed Babita.
Opening up on much she made, Babita revealed it was “around Rs 1 crore”.
Babita also said that after the film’s success, her dad asked Aamir’s team for help in opening a wrestling academy in Haryana, but they ignored the request. “After the film’s success, 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 Rs 5-6 crore to open a nice academy.”
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