It’s said, ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’. And it seems Dangal makers have hit bullseye, or so says Geeta Phogat, 27, lauding the film. “I’m very happy that Aamir Khan and the girls have portrayed our story so well onscreen. It seems like I’m watching myself,” she says, adding that Aamir always made time for the family. “Woh jitney badey star hai, utne hi bade insaan bhi hai. Papa se milne ke liye shooting chhod dete the. (Despite being a star, he’s very humble. He used to stop the shooting to meet our father),” says the wrestler, who hails from Balali village in Haryana. She says that the notion that girls can’t wrestle has changed tremendously over the years.
“The past two years have seen many wrestling academies being opened for women. Now parents come along with their daughters to us to give them advice on wrestling. You can go places if you the determination and the will to do so,” says Geeta.
Talking about her father, Mahavir Singh Phogat, who introduced her and sister Babita Kumari to wrestling, the wrestler — who unlike her sister, has been sporting long hair since 2010 — says: “He’s my father and guru too. I was 12 years old, and weighed 24 kg when I started wrestling. Humne kabhi masti toh ki nahi. We had short hair and people would get confused if we were a boy or a girl. He used to say, yah toh shauk pura kar lo, yah kushti kar lo. Papa has been very strict with us. He taught us that to achieve something in life you have to compromise on something.”
{{/usCountry}}Talking about her father, Mahavir Singh Phogat, who introduced her and sister Babita Kumari to wrestling, the wrestler — who unlike her sister, has been sporting long hair since 2010 — says: “He’s my father and guru too. I was 12 years old, and weighed 24 kg when I started wrestling. Humne kabhi masti toh ki nahi. We had short hair and people would get confused if we were a boy or a girl. He used to say, yah toh shauk pura kar lo, yah kushti kar lo. Papa has been very strict with us. He taught us that to achieve something in life you have to compromise on something.”
{{/usCountry}}Watch the trailer of Aamir Khan’s upcoming film, Dangal
Today, Geeta stands proud, and is happy with her recent appointment as the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Haryana Police. “When I won Gold in Commonwealth Games 2010, it was announced that jinka Gold aayega unko DSP diya jaayega. I was made an inspector that time. After that time I had spoken through the media that it’s my right to become the DSP. But when the governing party was changed, we didn’t get a response for some time. My uncle then filed a case in Chandigarh and I was a made a DSP,” she says, with her eyes now set on clinching the gold in Olympics 2020. But before that, she’s preparing for her wedding with wrestler Pawan Kumar on November 20.
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