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Regular-article-logo Friday, 29 August 2025

The real  Dangal  girl

If you've watched Dangal and wondered if wrestling guru Mahavir Singh Phogat was indeed such a tough father in his quest to make wrestling stars out of daughters Geeta and Babita, all you have to do is meet one of the girls. Metro met his younger daughter Babita Kumari at St. Xavier's College on the sidelines of XMS XMC'17, held in association with The Telegraph, on Thursday morning and was struck by her candour. This despite her saying that Dangal's success has made her cautious of what she says in public!For one, Babita didn't pick Aamir 'Mahavir' Khan as her favourite Khan despite powering Dangal to pole position at the Bollywood box office! "Waise mera Salman Khan (favourite) hai. I watch all his films. I liked Bajrangi Bhaijaan... Prem Ratan Dhan Payo," smiled the Commonwealth Games gold medallist.The 28-year-old did not fight shy of admitting that Dangal had changed their lives.

TT Bureau Published 10.02.17, 12:00 AM
If you've watched Dangal and wondered if wrestling guru Mahavir Singh Phogat was indeed such a tough father in his quest to make wrestling stars out of daughters Geeta and Babita, all you have to do is meet one of the girls. Metro met his younger daughter Babita Kumari at St. Xavier's College on the sidelines of XMS XMC'17, held in association with The Telegraph, on Thursday morning and was struck by her candour. This despite her saying that Dangal's success has made her cautious of what she says in public!For one, Babita didn't pick Aamir 'Mahavir' Khan as her favourite Khan despite powering Dangal to pole position at the Bollywood box office! "Waise mera Salman Khan (favourite) hai. I watch all his films. I liked Bajrangi Bhaijaan... Prem Ratan Dhan Payo," smiled the Commonwealth Games gold medallist.The 28-year-old did not fight shy of admitting that Dangal had changed their lives. "Medal toh humne pehle bhi liye hain. Tab itni pehchaan nahin thi jitni Dangal movie ne humein de di," she smiled. Babita shared how she had gone shopping, but could not buy a thing thanks to all the fans who had flocked around her. But her biggest takeaway from Dangal is the recognition that it has got her parents. " Dangal movie se hi pata chala hai ki humari mehnat ke peechhey kiska haath hai," she smiled. And yes, Mahavir was such a strict taskmaster that all little Babita would wish for back then was, "Ek kamra ho, uske andar ek TV ho, aur remote humare haath mein ho!"Aamir and team got it just right in Dangal, stressed Babita. "Everyone was perfect in their roles... un ladkiyon (Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Zaira Wasim and Suhani Bhatnagar) ne bahut mehnat ki hai, aur Aamir ji bhi. He never made us feel that we were in the presence of such a huge star," she said. Babita Kumari's parting shot for all the girls listening? "If you are mentally tough, you can handle any situation." Text: Saionee Chakraborty. Picture: B. Halder
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