DYK Taiwanese Olympic Champion Chen Shih-hsin's Life Is Similar To Aamir Khan Starrer Dangal?

Aamir Khan starrer Dangal is one of the best movies of the actor's career as it is the highest-grossing movie of all time. Not just in India, the movie broke box office records overseas and outperformed several Indian films in foreign territories. The movie was based on the life of wrestler Mahavir Phogat and his daughters Geeta and Babita Phogat, who made India proud by becoming the country's first world-class female wrestlers. However, do you know, that the movie has an uncanny resemblance with the life of Taiwan's Olympic champion Chen Shih-hsin?

Chen Shih-Hsin's life is similar to Dangal's story

Chen Shih-hsin, Taiwan's first-ever Olympic gold medallist, in an interview, shared that she watched Dangal a few years ago and found a resemblance of her life with the movie's storyline. She said that it was similar to what she had experienced in her life starting from training by her father to being a rebel after joining the national team. The only difference is that her father was even tougher on her than Mahavir Phogat in the movie. She recalled feeling like a rebel like Geeta in Dangal after joining the national team but unlike the wrestler's outspoken defiance, Chen Shih left her career in Taekwondo.

Opening up about how she returned to Taekwondo, Chen Shih recalled that three years later she saw an advertisement about a son unable to take care of his aging parents. This triggered Chen Shih and decided to go home and resume her training for the Olympics.

All you need to know about Dangal

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the movie starred Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra as adult versions of Geeta and Babita Phogat, respectively. Produced on a reported budget of ₹70 crore (US$8.4 million), the film grossed ₹2,024 crore, worldwide by various different estimates, including $216.2 million in China, becoming one of the country's top 20 highest-grossing foreign films.