 "Dangal made Rs 2000 crore but my family got only Rs 1 crore: Babita Phogat")
Following the release of a Bollywood film based on her life, Babita Phogat became an overnight sensation. According to Sacnilk, the movie Dangal, which starred Aamir Khan in the lead role, made over Rs 2070 crore worldwide.
However, the wrestler Babita in a recent interview has claimed that the family had received as little as Rs 1 crore for selling their story rights to the makers of the film–Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, and Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures, Aamir Khan Productions, and Walt Disney Pictures India.
Also, a request to assist them in building an academy in their village after the film’s success was ignored by the makers, she claimed.
When asked by the News24 anchor whether the Phogat family had received ₹20 crore from the makers, Babita said that it was half of 10% of that, around ₹1 crore. It is, however, important to note that the deal was negotiated much before Aamir Khan came on board as a producer, with director Nitesh Tiwari's team at the scripting stage itself.
‘Aamir’s team wanted to change characters’ names in Dangal’
Babita told the anchor that she had not received “a lot of money” for the film. “I got very less money. You will be surprised to know, after the entire story was written, they were even having a discussion to remove my name from the film altogether. They wanted to change the character’s name in the film,” she said.
She even claimed that at one point Aamir Khan’s team wanted to change the characters’ names in the film. “But then my dad was not okay with it. He said, if you want to make the film, then it is going to be our real name. The fees for the rights were decided much before they wrote the story, which was not even 1% of its total earning”, she revealed.
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Aamir Khan's 'Dangal' in China: Overview
The influence of Aamir Khan's film was felt throughout Hong Kong after Dangal's explosive success at the Chinese box office. Since its August 24, 2017, release in Hong Kong, the wrestling drama has been a box office success.
The movie made a total of Rs 1.66 crore on the second day of its release after an opening day, earning over Rs 15 crores in the city alone. The film directed by Nitesh Tiwari quickly shot up to the top of the Hong Kong box office, maintaining a pattern that has been seen since its May release in China and Taiwan. Dangal, momentarily overshadowed by Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, was the highest-grossing movie ever made in India.
At first, it was said that its total collections had crossed Rs 2,000 crore, primarily due to an influx of Rs 1,200 crore from its box office business in China. However, a representative for the movie explained in July 2017 that Dangal made a total of Rs 1,848 crore. Dangal's earnings were approaching the Rs 1,870 crore milestone after adding Rs 15 crore from its Hong Kong collection.