Discovery+ new series Dangals of Crime reflects on Indian wrestling

Discovery+ India is gaining traction with its latest original investigative documentary series “Dangals of Crime: The Untold Truth About Indian Wrestling”. It gives glimpses of the meteoric rise of the sport in India and explores its dark underbelly.

Dangals of Crime: The Untold Truth About Indian Wrestling is produced by Vice Studios Production and directed by Niyantha Shekar. Several former coaches and wrestlers, including Virendra Kumar, Satbir Singh, Ramphal Mann and Anil Mann have contributed.

Megha Tata, MD, South Asia, Discovery Inc, said that Dangals of Crime delves deep into the realms of wrestling, a sport that has churned out some of India’s greatest homegrown champions. “Reflecting on the sport in the most informative way, the Discovery Plus original dissects every aspect of the making of a Pehelwan (wrestler), coupled with its current realities.”

She believes it will surely leave Discovery’s viewers thinking. “The docuseries not only adds value to the ever-expanding content repertoire on Discovery+ but also brings forth topical subjects to our platform. This is surely going to be a gripping watch.”

The two-part series gives an insight about how wrestling has become instrumental in bringing sports accomplishments to India. This is despite its dark moments, at times, overshadowing the country’s success in the sport. Moreover, the sport has become so popular in India that it had Bollywood come up with two movies Dangal starring Amir Khan and Sultan starring Salman Khan.

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Indian wrestling has given rise to iconic wrestlers like Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt. They won three medals collectively across two successive games – Beijing 2008 and London 2012.