Hindi
Dangal: This is a winner!
Sports-based films had few takers till late, especially the concocted stories kind. However, the biographical sports-oriented films seem to work better, albeit, if they are inspiring enough and based on the lives of self-made successes.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Paan Singh Tomar, M S Dhoni: The Untold Story, Mary Kom are a few examples. Whose story the film is based on and the faces behind such a film also matters.
Dangal is a biopic based on one such story that has a lot working for it. The story defies taboos and traditions of the native Haryana where a father pining for boys in the family but siring, instead, four daughters, decides to train his daughters to step into an arena of wrestling, a sport dominated by men, and excel.
Dangal is based on the life of Mahavir Singh Phogat, a wrestler from Bilali village in Haryana who served as a coach for India’s Olympic wrestlers. Phogat, played by Aamir Khan, always dreamt of making wrestling champions out of his sons and win a Gold Medal for India. However, his dreams are far from being realised when his wife, Daya Shobha Kaur (Sakshi Tanwar) delivers four daughters.
Phogat is disillusioned when one day while he hears of his two daughters beating up a village bully. Seeing their aggression and fighting spirit, he decides to do something nobody in his state would dream of. Train his daughters into world class wrestlers and bring the country its first gold medal.
As the training begins, much to the girls’ reluctance and resistance, any and everything that hinders their training and concentration is done away with. The salwar kameez are replaced by shorts and T shirts, their long hair are shorn off and chicken becomes the staple food. A wrestling arena is built in the family farm and the girls’ cousin, Aparshakti Khurrana’s character, is the guinea pig with whom the girls practice their wrestling strategies.
As the older of the two daughters, Geeta (Fatima Sana Shaikh) qualifies to train at the National Sports Academy, the grounds rules change, something Fatima is not used to. Life here is easier than the one she lived at home training under her father. Her first lesson from the coach (Girish Kulkarni) is that she unlearns all that her father taught her and begin anew. There is enough indulgence in watching TV, outings in the town and also freedom to eat gol gappas. This only works to corrupt the qualities and expertise that the girl possessed in wrestling.
The result is, Geeta goes on losing all her international bouts and gets into verbal conflicts with her disappointed father. By now, even the younger Phogat girl, Babita (Sanya Malhotra) has qualified for a place at the Academy. Through her, she sees the value of her father’s coaching. Then starts a dual of coaches unawares of each other as Geeta listens to all that her coach has to say while follows what her father teaches her.
Aamir Khan has become the master of playing unconventional roles in a totally deglamorised avatar and yet promise a hit! He gets into the skin of the veteran coach, Mahavir Singh Phogat so much that even the later would be proud of.
The girls, Zaira Wasim and Suhani Bhatnagar as young Geeta and Babita are excellent as most of the earlier and challenging part rests on their shoulders. Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra, the grown-up Phogat sisters, carry on the solid base created convincingly by the young ones and not letting a continuity jerk show. SakshiTanwar and Aparshakti are natural all the way.
Dangal wins half its bout at the writing stage itself as the narration is smooth and witty dialogue make the initial training parts enjoyable which, in other such training phases in a film are tougher on viewers than on the aspiring sportsperson! Direction by Nitesh Tiwari is accomplished; he never lets the film sag at any stage despite its genre and length (161 minutes).
The climax strays for the better and sends a viewer back with a serving of patriotism. Cinematography is very good. The songs have a purely utility value.
The Haryanvi language used extensively in the film is no deterrent. Dangal is a winner all the way with all the makings of a first blockbuster biopic in Hindi film industry.
Producers: Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Sidharth Roy Kapur.
Direction: Nitesh Tiwari.
Cast: Aamir Khan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Zaira Washim, Suhani Bhatnagar, Sakshi Tanwar.
Hindi
GUEST COLUMN: Why film libraries & IPs are the new engines of growth
Unlocking value through catalogue strength and IP synergy
MUMBAI:In a media landscape defined by fragmentation, platform proliferation, and ever-evolving audience behavior, the economics of filmmaking are undergoing a fundamental shift. No longer confined to box office performance, a film’s true value is now measured across an extended lifecycle that spans digital platforms, syndication networks, and global markets. As content consumption becomes increasingly non-linear and algorithm-driven, film libraries and intellectual properties (IPs) are emerging as strategic assets, capable of delivering sustained, long-term returns. For Mohan Gopinath, head – bollywood business at Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd., this transformation signals a decisive move from hit-driven models to portfolio-led value creation. In this piece, Gopinath explores how legacy content, when intelligently repurposed and distributed, can unlock recurring revenue streams, why the interplay between catalogue and original IP is critical, and how media companies can build resilient, future-ready entertainment businesses.
For all these years, we thought that a film is successful if it performs well in theatres. There are opening weekend numbers, box office milestones, and distribution footprints that gave a good picture of how the movie has done commercially and also tell us about its cultural impact. However, there are multiple platforms today, always-on content ecosystem, which has caused a shift. Today, the theatrical performance is not the culmination of a film’s journey but merely the beginning of a much longer and more dynamic lifecycle.
Film libraries today are emerging as high-value, constantly evolving assets that deliver sustained returns well beyond initial release cycles. This becomes a point of great advantage for legacy content owners with diverse catalogues, to shape long-term business outcomes.
According to FICCI-EY, the media and entertainment industry of India achieved a valuation of Rs 2.78 trillion in 2025 which is expected to reach Rs 3.3 trillion by 2028 through a compound annual growth rate of approximately 7 per cent and digital media will bring in more than Rs 1 trillion to become the biggest sector which generates about 36 per cent of overall market revenues.
This shift is the expansion of distribution endpoints. We know how satellite television was once the primary secondary window but today, it coexists with YouTube, OTT platforms, Connected TV, and FAST channels. Each of these platforms caters to distinct audience demographics and consumption behaviors, helping content owners to obtain more value from the same asset across multiple formats.
For instance, films that had great reruns, now find continuous engagement across digital platforms. On YouTube, classic Hindi cinema continues to attract significant viewership, reaching audiences across generations and geographies with remarkable consistency. At Shemaroo Entertainment, this is reflected in our film library shaped over decades as part of a long association with Indian entertainment. From classics such as Amar Akbar Anthony to much-loved entertainers like Jab We Met, Welcome, Dhamaal, Phir Hera Pheri, Dhol, Golmaal, and Bhagam Bhag, many of these titles continue finding new audiences while retaining their place in popular memory. Their enduring appeal reflects how culturally resonant stories can continue creating value over time. Similarly, FAST channels have created curated, always-on environments where catalogue content can continue to thrive through star-led and genre-based programming.
This multi-platform approach has very well transformed films into long-tail IP assets which are capable of generating recurring revenue across advertising, subscription, and syndication models.
The evolution of audience behavior is equally important. Nowadays, it’s more important to find what’s more relative than what’s recent as viewers are more influenced by mood, memories, and algorithmic suggestions than by release schedules. Even if a movie was released decades ago, it can trend alongside a newly released movie, if surfaced in the right context. Thoughtful packaging, whether through festival-based playlists, actor-driven collections, or genre clusters, allows catalogue content to remain dynamic and continuously discoverable. Shemaroo Entertainment has built extensive film libraries over decades and its focus has mostly been on recontextualizing content for the consumption of newer environments. This process doesn’t just include digitization and restoration, but also re-packaging of films as per platforms.
Syndication itself has evolved into a key growth driver. In perspective, when looking at the domestic market, curated content packages continue to find strong demand across broadcast and digital platforms. Meanwhile, in the international market, especially in markets like Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia, the appetite for Indian content is opening up new monetization avenues. Here, the ability to package and position catalogue content effectively becomes as important as the content itself.
Importantly, the need to re-package catalogue content does not diminish the role of new content. In fact, originals and fresh IP are essential to sustaining the long-term value of a film library because they act as discovery engines that bring audiences into the ecosystem, while catalogue content drives depth, retention, and repeat engagement.
This interplay between the “new” and the “known” is what defines a robust content strategy today. While new films generate spikes in consumption, catalogue titles offer familiarity and comfort. These are factors that are increasingly valuable in an era of content abundance and decision fatigue. This is also shaping our strategy, drawing value from both a deep catalogue assets and a growing focus on original IPs to strengthen long-term audience engagement and build more predictable revenue streams.
There is growing recognition that long-term value in entertainment will be shaped not only by how intelligently existing content continues to live, travel and find relevance, but also by how consistently new stories are created to renew that ecosystem. In that sense, film libraries and original IP are not parallel bets, but reinforcing engines of growth. For media companies, the opportunity lies in making these two forces work together, because that is increasingly where more resilient and predictable businesses are being shaped.
Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect our own.
