Fatima Sana Shaikh is most persuasive when a role gives her something physically demanding to do. We recommend Dangal for the way she makes Geeta Phogat matter in a film that keeps returning to her father.
Fi1m perspective
In Dangal (2016), Fatima Sana Shaikh makes the wrestling look like work. As the older Geeta Phogat, she gives the daughter a physical presence that a story centred on Aamir Khan’s Mahavir sometimes threatens to deny her. Nitesh Tiwari stages contests we can follow, and Sanya Malhotra’s older Babita gives Shaikh a persuasive sister to work alongside. We cared about Geeta because Shaikh made the effort feel like hers, even when the film kept returning to her father’s determination.
Dangal was her adult breakthrough, but it did not lead straight to a settled run of leading roles. Thugs of Hindostan (2018) paired her with Khan again, before she played Pinky in the ensemble dark comedy Ludo (2020). Lipakshi in the ‘Majnu’ segment of Ajeeb Daastaans (2021) gave her an intimate dramatic role. These are useful departures from the athlete who brought her to wider attention. We would not ask her to keep playing wrestlers, though Geeta remains the firmest basis for our enthusiasm.
Her preparation for Dangal included wrestling training and weight gain. The performance works because that preparation makes Geeta credible within the contests, giving us someone to care about through the familiar training routines. Khan makes Mahavir’s commitment believable while leaving us room to question how much say his daughters have in it; Shaikh and Malhotra make that question matter. Tiwari still lets the film run too long, and no amount of conviction from his actors quite solves that. It is an involving sports drama with stretches that test our patience.
Physical preparation alone does not guarantee a convincing performance. Shaikh has expressed an interest in characters with conflicting emotions, and we would like to see that interest guide the parts she takes. Start with Dangal, provided the familiar rhythms of a sports film are part of the attraction.
Biography
Fatima Sana Shaikh is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Also credited as Baby Sana, she began her career as a child artist in the late 1990s, appearing in Chachi 420 (1997) and One 2 Ka 4 (2001). She was born on 11 January 1992 in Hyderabad and raised in Mumbai.
Shaikh gained major recognition for portraying wrestler Geeta Phogat in the biographical sports drama Dangal (2016). She has since appeared in Thugs of Hindostan (2018), Ludo (2020), Ajeeb Daastaans (2021), Thar (2022), Sam Bahadur (2023) as Indira Gandhi, and Dhak Dhak (2023). She received a Filmfare Critics Award nomination for Best Actress for the latter.
