Aamir Khan never insists that you follow his opinion: 'Dangal' director

Aamir Khan and director Nitesh Tiwari indulge in some kitefying on the setsBiopics are a difficult genre in Bollywood and when you have an actor like Aamir Khan in your film the stakes are even higher Nitesh Tiwaris Dangal is based on the life of Haryanvi wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters Geeta and Babita An admanturnedfilmmaker Tiwari had previously directed Chillar Party 2011 and Bhootnath Returns 2014 He reveals what appealed to him about making a biopic working with Aamir and the challenges he facedAfter living the film for more than three years are you feeling any withdrawal symptomsNot really Thats because we finished the film long back We had enough time to make the necessary changes to edit or add things and I am satisfied with the final product I always feel when you have more options you are able to pick the best out of it and thats what we have done I remember when we finished writing the final draft I told my team that if we can achieve 80 per cent of what we have written I think we will have a great film in our handHave you achieved itI dont want to sound ambitious or arrogant but I feel we have I am more excited than nervous because the audience has loved whatever they have seen so far Also I was not desperate to make Dangal This is a film which I might not be able to recreate in my entire life I dont know if Id be able to write anything better than this filmFrom left Nitesh Tiwari Babita and Geeta Phogat Aamir Khan and Mahavir PhogatDisney approached you with the idea of Dangal Had you heard about Mahavir Phogat earlierI hadnt heard of Mahavir Phogat or his daughters Geeta and Babita Two friends from Disney narrated the idea to me briefly They asked me if Id be interested in writing the story of a man who in a place like Haryana trained his daughters to become worldclass wrestlers against all oddsThe basic premise was mouthwatering and was good enough for me to get excited I felt this story deserved to be told I immediately said yes and decided to delve deeper into itDid you bring up Aamirs name How did he come on boardAfter finishing the final draft Disney gave me a hypothetical situation to choose an actor I would want in Dangal The first name that came to my mind was Aamir Khans There were a lot of factors involved because of the kind of commitment required for the role I narrated the script for three hours in the same room that we are sitting today He loved the script What really intrigued him was that although the script was emotional there was a layer of humour But he wasnt sure when he would be able to do the film So he gave us the option of going ahead with any other actor I decided and told him that I was ready to wait for him for however long it tookYou said Aamir was intrigued by the comic touches Was it a conscious decision to incorporate that in the filmDangals story is serious and biopics tend to get heavy We didnt want the audience to be layered with a lot of ronadhona So we decided that although the message will be serious the treatment will be lighthearted and that was the biggest challengeAt the same time was it difficult to maintain a balance between keeping things authentic and adding fictionYes it was Whenever you are telling a biopic it is always important for the writer not to be too real or take too much cinematic liberties The principal characters in Dangal mdash Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters Geeta and Babita have remained absolutely intact but weve created characters around them to give a flavour to the story and make the film more commercialVivek TiwariComing to the casting of Geeta and Babita it was earlier decided that you will cast real wrestlers but the idea was later dropped and you went ahead with actorsWe had discussed two options Either we cast wrestlers and teach them acting or we cast actors and teach them wrestling We auditioned a lot of young female wrestlers but somehow we were never convinced Dangal is not just a film about wrestling its an emotional journey of a father and his two daughters and we wanted that emotion to come through Finally we realised it would be easier to teach actors how to wrestle But let me tell you that too wasnt an easy process We auditioned more than 10000 girls Apart from being good actors there were a lot of parameters The girls had to look like Aamirs daughters The younger ones had to look like the older ones After several rounds of auditioning and shortlisting we checked their medical history and also consulted dieticians to see if they could bulk up and wrestle We also met gym trainers to see if the girls were athletic and would easily do weights After months of tedious process the final 10 shortlisted girls were made to train under our wrestling coach Kripa Shankarji to see if they could achieve what we wanted in about eight to 10 months The toughest part was that the girls had to cut their hair so many werent sure about that laughs It was a very rigorous regimeThere is always a lot of buzz about Aamir Khans excessive interference in the films he does How much is it trueHe is one of the most easygoing actors to work with In fact Aamir takes a lot of pressure off the director Apart from acting he has been an assistant director producer and a director so he knows his work well He understands the creative process and is knows where to draw the line He is a superstar and his name is associated with the film so it is obvious that whenever he feels he should give an opinion he will but will never insist you to follow it He gives a lot of respect to his writers and directors I must say his suggestions always help the film