We got only 1 crore from Dangal which crossed 2000 crore worldwide, reveals Babita Phogat
We got only 1 crore from Dangal which crossed 2000 crore worldwide, reveals Babita Phogat
Former Indian wrestler Babita Phogat, whose incredible story inspired the hit Bollywood film Dangal, has disclosed an unexpected detail. She says that despite Dangal’s impressive revenue of 2000 crore, her own earnings from the film were only 1 crore.
The 2016 release, Dangal tells an incredible true story centered around Mahavir Singh and his two daughters, Geeta and Babita Phogat. The film follows the uplifting journey of a father dedicated to training his daughters to achieve greatness as world-class wrestlers.
The inquiry about the rumored sum was raised with Phogat during an interview with news24. Her affirmation sparked widespread media attention.
Babita responded to inquiries about whether she or her family felt disheartened by the relatively small amount of Rs 1 crore, particularly in light of the significant profits at stake. She emphasized that their main objective was to earn respect and love.
“Nahi, papa ne ek cheez kahi thi ki logo ka pyaar aur sammaan chahiye.” (No, father had said one thing, we want people’s love and respect.),” she said in response.
The movie ‘Dangal’ was produced with a budget of 90 crores, allocating 70 crores for production costs and 20 crores for promotion and marketing. It achieved remarkable success, grossing a net collection of 387.38 crores in India, making it a massive hit.
Babita mentioned that her father, Mahavir Singh Phogat, believed his daughters gained recognition in every home due to the support of the people, not because of the film. Also, he was not comfortable with the crew’s suggestion that their names should be changed.
“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 earning,” says Phogat.
Babita mentioned that her father had proposed the idea of establishing a wrestling academy in Haryana to Aamir Khan’s team. However, they did not receive a definitive response, leaving the project unfulfilled to this day.
“A journalist from Chandigarh had written an article on us. 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. This was around 2010. But, later after writing it, he shared he would like to make a film. 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,” she said further.
