If not Aamir Khan, then Mohanlal for Dangal : Divya Rao

Aamir Khan’s latest release Dangal continues to do great business worldwide breaking several pre-existing box office records. It is now the highest grossing Bollywood movie ever overhauling the record set by PK.

Dangal directed by Nitish Tiwari is an inspiring story about a father who trained his two daughters to world class wrestlers. The movie was inspired from the real life of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters Geeta Kumari Phogat and Babita Kumari Phogat.

Recently, Divya Rao the creative producer of UTV Motion Pictures, opened up about how this movie happened in an interview with a national daily.

“A father who transformed a cowshed into a wrestling arena for his daughters”, this striking news from an article made her suggest the idea of a scope for a movie to her creative head. The producers, Siddharth Roy Kapur and Ronnie Screwvala right away accepted the idea and even agreed upon the title Dangal which she suggested.

She said that Aamir Khan was the strongest contender for the father role. The actor was upbeat and gave the thumbs up when he heard the story. If not for Aamir Khan, then they would have approached Mollywood superstar Mohanlal or Kamal Haasan.

It would have been interesting to see Mohanlal stepping into the shoes of Mahavir Singh Phogat. Like Aamir, Mohanlal would have been a great choice. The fact that Mohanlal himself was a wrestler in his early days, his physique and his impeccable acting skills would have certainly justified their choice.