Kangana to wrestle with Aamir

By now everyone knows that Aamir Khan will play wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat in his next film, Dangal, to be directed by Nitesh Tiwari. Now, there's a strong buzz that Kangana Ranaut, who is currently basking in the glory of Vikas Bahl's Queen which recently fetched her a Filmfare Award, could play his daughter in the sports bio-pic. Geeta Phogat is India's first female wrestler who won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the 55 kg free-style category. Her sister, Babita Kumari won silver.

The 27-year-old actress was spotted partying with the actor recently. According to a source, Kangana has always admired Aamir and wanted to work with him. When she was approached, she instantly agreed to come on board to play Geeta, the 21-year-old struggling wrestler, whom her 55-year-old father coaches to a historic win. Forty-nine-year-old Aamir who is looking beefy, has been training for the last two months.

The rise of the Phogat sisters makes for a great story given that female infanticide is so common in Haryana that the male-female ratio is 100:86. Arranged marriages are the norm and most women live their lives within the four walls of their home. Against this backdrop, Mahavir Singh Phogat, a wrestler in Balali village of Bhiwani district, built an akhara in his own house where he trained his two daughters in the signature moves of kushti.

Geeta started wrestling at the age of 10 and by 12 was travelling to neighbouring villages to take part in dangals, competition, in which both Babita and she defeated their male opponents. Their grandmother wasn't impressed with their exploits in a man's game. But after the Commonwealth wins, they became role models in the conservative Jat community and their mother was elected as the village head. The Government College in Bhiwani dug a 'dangal pit' in the village where local female grapplers could hone their skills.

Geeta's most recent achievement includes a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Babita won gold in the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in Jalandhar in 2009 in the 51 kg free-style category. Their cousins, Priyanka and Vinesh, followed in their footsteps with gold medals in the Asian Cadet Championships in Pune in the 51 kg and 49 kg freestyle categories respectively. But Mahavir Singh is still waiting to be honoured with the Dronacharya Award for excellence in sports coaching despite his pupils winning five golds for the country.