"Wrestle!" "Dad" The Way to Success: Tell Two Stories in One Movie

"Wrestle!" "Dad" was released in China in 2017, when the box office totaled 1.2 billion. The year's mainland box office ranked 9th, even surpassing the Hollywood blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean."



Douban scored 9 points, ranking 30th in the top250 Douban movies.

Whether it is box office or word of mouth, this film has become a good product in Indian movies in recent years.

explores the secret of its success. The author found that this film seems to be only about the inspirational content of a sports champion, but it actually contains two stories.

Today we will talk about how this movie tells two stories.

We call the two stories A story and B story. The story of

A is the Indian version of "Hope for a woman to become a phoenix". My father wants his daughter to win the world championship and win glory for the country instead of himself. In this story, the daughter becomes a "tool" for the father to realize his dreams. The

A story is the plot line on the surface of the film, which plays a role in promoting the story plot, and generally develops relatively quickly. The story of

B is about the child's nature and independent consciousness of the daughters Jitta and Barbita, and the struggle against the Indian society's pressure on women. Story B is the deep emotional line of the film, which carries the core ideas that the film wants to express.

is under the battle between you and me in the two stories of AB. In the end, Story B, represented by the daughter, won the victory and achieved the final victory of this movie.

Part 1. How the AB story came into being


A story is the story line on the surface of the film, and it is also the plot line that leads the story. The role of the A story is to promote the development of the story plot and is the thrust to drive the film. Often the meaning of story A is not the core idea of ​​the film.

The identity of his father Mahavira (played by Amir Khan) was introduced at the beginning of the film. He was the championship of Indian wrestling and has always dreamed of representing India in international wrestling competitions and winning the gold medal for the country. However, he has not been able to realize this wish.

He is eager to have a son and fulfill his dream of winning glory for the country. However, the eager hope for his son was assaulted by the reality that all four children were daughters, and he became the laughing stock of the whole village, and his fiery dreams gradually cooled under the catalysis of reality.

When Mahavira gave up his dream and returned to a normal life, he accidentally discovered that the eldest daughter Gita and the second daughter Barbita had the talent to learn wrestling. So the dream that was extinguished by reality was ignited by "a girl who wants to become a phoenix". He turned his wish to his two daughters.

takes the dream of his father Mahavira as the carrier and creates the image of a father who wants to realize his dream and win glory for the country. This is "Wrestle!" Story A in "Dad".

and B stories are often hidden in the depths of the film and are not easily noticed. They are emotional lines that are different from the plot line (A story), and they also carry the core content that the film really wants to express.

in "Wrestle!" In the movie "Dad", Story B is the awakening of independent consciousness represented by Gita and Barbita. They have the innocent nature of their children, but they are forced to become "tools" for their fathers to realize their dreams. , The audience hoped that they could resist fate.

and this story takes place in India, where women are relatively low in status, adding another layer to the B story, which is to call for the awakening of female consciousness.

Gita and Barbita, these two ordinary girls are the epitome of Indian women. Their struggle from being discriminated to the glory in the eyes of others is not only a display of personal growth history, but also represents the Indian women to a certain extent. The deep appeal is to break the position of women in Indian society.


Part 2. The three confrontations and resolution of the AB story


AB The story is on the surface a confrontation force that cannot coexist, but the director managed to make these two seemingly opposing contradictions collide again and again until the end of the film, turning the power of confrontation into a clever solution. ,Achieve win-win.

A of the storyThe development speed is very fast, and it usually takes a few minutes to explain most of the protagonist's life. For example, in "Wrestling Dad", from the young father, to the middle-aged father, and then to the father who started training his two daughters to learn to wrestle, it took a very short time.

and the development of the B story requires a lot of effort.

Gita and her sister adjusted the alarm clock, hid their weapons, destroyed the facility, and their consciousness of maintaining self-independence began to awaken. The

AB story is the first confrontation.

and for the first time the director avoided the result of the AB story confrontation in a humorous way. When Geeta and her sister took a series of destructive measures, the soundtrack was relaxed and happy. The director did not give an attitude about the AB story, but only gave the B story a humorous appearance. There was a confrontation, but there was no outcome. As if telling the audience: the highlight is behind.

had a clear victory in the second confrontation, and Story A won.

Gita and her sister cried to their newly married friends that their father forced them to become wrestlers. The director used a newly married friend to show up and tell Jitta how lucky she is to have such a father.

Gitta and her sister began to take the initiative to train, wanting to take their destiny in their own hands, which promoted the development of story A.

for the third time, B story reappears. Geeta began to question her father’s training methods, which was another awakening of Geeta’s independence consciousness. She began to challenge her father’s "outdated" training concept, and defeated her father on the training ground and won. The story of

has progressed to this point, and it has reached the climax. For the intention of telling the independence and the status of women, this confrontation is doomed to the victory of the party represented by Geeta.

From the starting point of the AB story, this victory is reasonable, but the mood of the audience will be very complicated.

Because even if the party represented by Geeta is the core idea of ​​this movie, her victory is based on the failure of her father. Geeta is victorious, but at the same time the family relationship between her and her father has deteriorated. The contradiction between father and daughter is not acceptable to all audiences.

And this time, the director resolved the conflict with warmth.

Encouraged by her sister, Geeta called her father, sobbed softly, and quietly resolved the contradiction with the phrase "I'm sorry, Dad". The director weakened the victory of Story B and avoided answering the question of AB outcome. Leave this answer at the end.


Part 3. Story B wins, and the end of a good story is always on people.


Gita finally came to the final after a heavy fight.

Gita asked her father what strategy he adopted. Her father didn't tell her whether it was defensive or offensive this time. He only said "there is only one strategy for tomorrow, and that is to let people remember you".

In the previous episode, the image of the father has always been that he wants his daughter to win the gold medal and realize his dreams. He is a tiger dad who hopes his daughter will become a phoenix but ignores his daughter's feelings.

At this moment, the image of the father has changed. He mentioned the status of women and the future of the child. He started to think about his daughter, and the plot began to move closer to the B story.

In this game, Gita is no longer fighting for herself, she is fighting for countless Indian women who want to dominate their own destiny. This is a game for Gita, and it is also a game between Indian women and the unfair status of strong men and weak women in society. The plot of

has developed here, and the balance of victory has become more and more obvious. This is also the reason why Jitta won in the end. She was challenged by those Indian women who were discriminated against, and she must win.

When it was time for the real game, my father was locked up by someone arranged by coach Pramod Kadam. I have to say the director’s arrangement: wonderful! This arrangement of

has a double effect. The first effect of

is on the psychological level of the characters. Ji Ta is used to the shadow of his father in the audience, and his father is a "fixing needle" in Ji Ta's heart. In the finals where the winner was determined, Dad's seat was empty, which caused a lot of pressure on Gita's heart.

This is the director telling the audience that Gita must face this ultimate challenge by himself. It implies that not only on the sports field, but in the future, any challenge to women's injustice in life must have the courage to face it head-on, and a confrontation will have a result.

Secondly, this last final is also the last confrontation of the AB story. Even if we haven't watched the following plot, we can guess that in the end it must be Gita won.

However, the highlight is for whom does she win?

is for the father as a representative, the child as a tool to win glory of the A story? Or do you win with the B story represented by Geeta, who carries the status of women and the nature of children?

The moment when his father was locked in the room, it was the answer given by the director: the brave girl wins for herself!

The father was "forced" to avoid the moment when his daughter won the gold medal, which also made the plot's final footing stop on Story B, and Gita won the game with her own efforts.

Of course, when the daughter fought back in the game, the father's voice sounded in her mind: Dad can't save you every time, and everything else depends on you.

Here again, the importance of story A is deliberately mentioned. The daughter remembered his father’s teaching at an important moment in life, and then won the game on her own. This is a complicated way for the audience to understand the emotions of the father and daughter. After all, it is spiritually "connected by blood."

It can be seen that the victory of individual awakening consciousness and the emotional connection of family affection have had a satisfactory result. The AB story blends here, and there is a relatively perfect final chapter on the level of story creation.

And the audience's perception is also the American experience of both worlds at the end of the plot. The contradiction is transformed into struggle, and the suffering is sublimated into passion. Not only was he inspired by the tenacious and hard-working spirit in the film, but he was also silently moved by affection during the viewing process and inspired by the courage of women to fight. It can be said that reasonable and reasonable was moved.

To sum up, "Wrestle! "Dad" uses the setting of the collision of AB stories to cleverly promote the deep core of female consciousness under the surface of "Hope a Girl Becomes a Phoenix", so it is no longer just a cliché single family story, but touches social phenomena and women on a broader level. Right, tell the world that in addition to marrying out to serve men, girls can also achieve themselves.

is the Chinese translation of the film, "Wrestle!" "Dad", in which "dad" represents family affection, the beginning is the pressurer, the end is the embrace of support. At the beginning of "Wrestling", the daughter was forced to participate, and it was ultimately an independent and voluntary choice of the individual, who belonged to her own dream.

The scene where the father and daughter embrace each other is not a call to the process of improving the status and rights of women in Indian society: women are daughters in the country, and male power in society should be given more understanding, respect, and respect like fathers. support.

For Chinese audiences, the part that describes family affection knows no borders, and the manifestation of female consciousness is also improved as more and more audiences are educated. In particular, female audiences accept the idea of ​​independent self-esteem. In other words, this story that happened to Indian girls is enough to inspire Chinese women to move up! Girl, be the champion of your own life.