Apart from its cinematic excellence, Aamir Khan’s ‘Dangal’ narrated a tale that inspired many. The story of a father having concrete faith on his daughter’s abilities, a father with the dream to make his country proud, a family that fought against the odds of the society, and two women who sacrificed everything to be fulfil their father's dream - ‘Dangal’ is an emotional journey for its viewers.
Sisters Seema, Neelam, and Poonam Solanki from Agra are currently struggling to pursue their dreams to make the country proud in the field of wrestling. In spite of winning numerous medals in various championships, it is extremely difficult for the girls to continue to chase their dreams due to the unfavourable financial conditions.
Talking about their dream, Neelam Solanki (19) said, “We are the third generation and all seven sisters have been attached to wrestling since childhood. But after marriage, four have left the sport. The remaining three of us have a dream to represent India." Neelam has recently won a gold medal held at the university level in Hathras district.
The girls also revealed how they invest their time and energy to fulfill their dream. Neelam further added, “We three sisters start our day at 3am and dedicate majority of our time practicing wrestling. We travel 15 km daily from our remote village Sahara in Malpura to reach Agra Cant railway ground to horn our skills in wrestling."
The girls have always had their father, Vishamber Singh Solanki's back. He has been supportive about their dreams. Talking about him, Seema said, “Our father (Vishamber Singh Solanki) has always treated us like his son. Even after objection from local villagers, who were against the thought about girls being part of dangal, our father supported us. Every day we invest his time, money and strength to make us stronger as wrestling player."
The family had to sacrifice a lot for this dream and yet things haven’t gotten any better. The youngest sister Poonam (18) said, "Our parents sold one bigha land to prepare us wrestlers and be champion, but seeing our financial constraint we have now opened a boutique and sell cosmetics items for our livelihood."