NEW YORK (January 12) –  Based on true events, "Dangal" tells the story Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters Geeta and Babita as they struggle against societal norms and institutional corruption to pursue a dream of becoming world-class wrestlers.

The movie opens with Mahavir (Aamir Khan) as a young man forced to quit the sport of wrestling to take on a paying job and raise a family. Having only achieved national prominence, Mahavir in dogged by this decision, largely because as a competitor he was unable to reach his goal of winning an international medal for India.

Mahavir has some hope rekindled when he finds out his wife is pregnant. He hopes for the birth of a boy, but his wife Daya (Sakshi Tanwar) delivers a girl named Geeta. Next it’s Babita and then two more girls.

Knowing that girls in India don’t wrestle, Mahavir is sidelines his aspirations of coaching a wrestler capable of winning an international medal. Depressed, the former wrestler is left to sulk until a fateful incident proves that girls – specifically Geeta and Babita – are also capable of being wrestlers. The trio immediately embarks on their journey to international success, navigating 5am workouts, restrictive dieting and a traditional Indian society less-than-welcoming of female wrestlers.

Mahavir is obsessed with his children’s success and while the audience is taken through his story by the comedic narration of his brother Omkara (Aparshakti Khurrana) there is an underlying selfishness that seems to distract from Geeta and Babita’s struggles. Though it seems odd to exalt the sacrifices of a man during a movie about women overcoming obstacles, the role of the male advocate proves to be essential in taking on established power structures.

In the movie’s first pivotal scene Mavashir assaults a tournament director unwilling to allow his daughter to compete in a 'dangal' -- a traditional Indian style wrestling tournament. Once the tournament director allows Geeta (Fatima Sana Shaikh) to compete she’s able to impress onlookers. That moment catapults the trio’s journey to international success through an expected, though entertaining, tale of setbacks and triumphs.

The movie touches on plenty of relevant topics, including the tension between modern and traditional society. The consequence of addressing so much is that the movie runs about 20 minutes longer than necessary and suffers from a heavy-handed, dramatized finale.

Despite the length, fans of amateur wrestling will take satisfaction in seeing the most accurate portrayal of wrestling technique to ever make it into a movie theater. Throws, sprawls, head slaps, spin-behinds, cradles, fireman’s carries – no matter what the technique the actresses in the movie display them without an ounce of corniness and with mastery over their body not often seen in physical movies. In an early scene Geeta even uses a traditional wrestling technique in an international competition that only someone with intense research would have known to utilize.

Detail isn’t just in the wrestling, but in the atmosphere around the sport. Everything in sight seems to be perfect, from the branding of tournaments to the hats worn by female coaches.

"Dangal" is entertaining and uplifting, and with more than $100-million grossed in three weeks at the box office has already become the second highest-grossing movie in Bollywood history.

Written and directed by Bollywood standout Nitesh Tiwari, "Dangal" is currently being shown on more than 4200 screens worldwide.