Aamir's 'Haanikarak Bapu' Act In Dangal Sets #DaddyGoals
Aamir Khan didn’t get the moniker, Mr. Perfectionist for nothing. His amazing choice of movies, post the “Boy-meets-girl-falls-in-love-and-rebels-against-parents” storyline-in-every-second-movie, phase, is a phenomenal transition. Aamir has been doling out hits with substantial scripts and at times unconventional storylines. ‘Taare Zameen Par,’ ‘Lagaan,’ ‘3 Idiots,’ to name a few. This time we have him essaying the role of a wrestler, Mahavir Singh Phogat, a Dronacharya awardee who came into limelight for training his daughters, Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari to become ace wrestlers, in a state notorious for having skewed sex ratio.
Geeta Phogat went on to win India's first gold medal ever in women's wrestling at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and became the first-ever Indian female wrestler to qualify for the Olympics. Her sister Babita Kumari also won a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games while cousin Vinesh Phogat reached the quarter finals in Rio Olympics earlier this year.
The songs of Dangal have created a lot of buzz around the movie, so has the video featuring Aamir’s transition from “Fat-to-fit.” Out of the three songs launched, ‘Haanikarak Bapu’ is preview of what we can expect from this movie. Composed by Pritam and penned by Bollywood’s most sought-after lyricist, Amitabh Bhattacharya, “Hannikarak Bapu” is an ode to the disciplinarian fathers who push their daughters to reach their full potential. Sartaj Khan Barna’s & Sarwar Khan’s high-pitched rustic singing lends authenticity to the visuals of this song.
We have had our ‘Haanikarak Bapu’ moments with our fathers, when we thought their sole purpose is to make our lives miserable. Fathers’ firm attitude often translates into harshness for us, but that couldn’t be any more misleading.
“Bapu sehat ke liye tu toh haanikarak hai, hum pe thodi daya karo hum nanhe balak hai.”
The video starts with Aamir’s character Mahavir Phogat, ordering his daughters in a perfect Haryanvi dialect, “Aaj se tum dono pehelvano ki zindagi jiyo ge.” i.e. from today onwards both of you would be living the life of a wrestler. That line packs the punch of a confident father who is determined to fulfill his vision of nurturing his daughters to be world-class wrestlers. The camera then cuts into the child actors’ priceless expressions. Zaira Wasim playing young Geeta and Suhani Bhatnagar as young Babita, perfectly emote the plight of young girls, who just want to have fun.
“Discipline itna, khudkhushi ke layak hai
Bapu sehat ke liye tu toh haanikarak hai”
“Tanne bola khata teekha khana hai mana
Yo toh torture hai ghana, re yo toh torture hai ghana
Mitti ki gudiya se bole, chal body bana,
Yo toh torture hai ghana, re yo toh torture hai ghana”
Fathers unlike mothers, always put on this facade of a stern, disciplinarian person, whereas mothers openly shower their love on their children. But, it’s because of this firm behaviour, we get to learn life lessons. Recalling a personal experience of how I was also a victim (winks) of a haanikarak bapu. My father used to run a pretty tight ship in our house. Timings were perfectly slotted for each task. We wouldn’t be caught lunching after 2 pm, or sleeping after 11 pm or even studying after 9 pm. Sure we used to murmur behind his back, call him ‘Mogambo’ and dread his footsteps. But, since he instilled these habits in our system, we’re able to manage the challenges of our everyday lives by organising our schedule. Respecting time, an important life lesson was taught by my ‘Haanikarak Bapu’ to us.
“Tel lene gaya re bachpan, jhad gayi phulwari,
Kar rahe hain jaane kaisi, jung ki taiyyari,
Sote jagte choot rahi hai aansu ki pichkari,
Phir bhi khush na hua mogambo, hum tere balhaari”
Remember the time when you just couldn’t comprehend why the hell would your father make your life miserable. Ever wondered that it just might be your father’s way of bringing you up to face the world, which is harsh by the way. Survival of the fittest is not just a rhetorical translation of life. You have to beat down the volley of challenges thrown at you with vengeance. Fathers nurture us in their own manner to toughen us up for the future battles. You can’t be a kid all your life. So the training to combat challenges of life begins from our childhood. Haanikarak bapu gets that.
“Teri nazaron me kya hum itne nalayak hain,
Tujhse behtar hindi filmon ke khalnayak hai
Oh bapu sehat ke liye tu toh haanikarak hai.”
The above lines are my favourite in the song. At some point in our lives we feel, whether my father thinks of me as a lump of good-for-nothing? This misconception follows us in large part of our childhood. But, when you reap the benefits of discipline and sternness, nothing can top that feeling. The dedication and the amount of trust put in by our haanikarak bapus, makes our lives worth living.
We need more ‘Haanikarak Bapus’ like Mahavir Singh Phogat, who believed, that his daughters are no less than boys and, trained and nurtured them with utmost dedication, to gift this country world-class wrestlers.
A genuine piece of advice for you kids, pray for a ‘Haanikarak Bapu’ in order to have a promising future.
