Coach Who Trained Aamir Khan for Dangal Says His Government Wrestling Center Is Falling Apart

A government-run wrestling training center in Indore that helped prepare Bollywood star Aamir Khan for one of his biggest roles is falling apart, according to the Times of India.

Kripa Shankar Bishnoi, an Arjuna Award winning wrestling coach, trained Khan for his portrayal of wrestler Mahavir Phogat in the 2016 film Dangal. Bishnoi also coached the actresses who played Phogat's daughters in the film, per the Times of India.

Today Bishnoi runs the Sports Authority of India center at Indore's Malhar Ashram, where more than 80 wrestlers have trained for free since 2008. The facility is government-funded and open to anyone who wants to learn the sport.

This monsoon season, Bishnoi's young wrestlers added an unplanned task to their training: bailing rainwater out of the akhada before they could practice. "The wrestlers have to clear the puddles that form inside. The situation was particularly worse this year, making it almost impossible for my wrestlers to train properly," Bishnoi told the Times of India.

The roof leaks have gotten worse for lack of repairs. Walls are shedding plaster. Puddles form on the mat after every downpour, putting training equipment at risk of damage.

When the center became unusable on heavy rain days, staff had to ask the principal of the neighboring Sandipani Govt Malhar Ashram School for help. The school opened its unused old boys' association hall as a temporary substitute for about a month, according to the Times of India.

No Changing Room, Broken Toilets

The leaking roof isn't the only problem. The SAI center has no changing room at all. Its toilets are in bad shape, and the Times of India reports this hits women wrestlers hardest, forcing them to use public toilets nearby or ask neighboring households to let them in.

A toilet was reportedly built with help from local MLA Golu Shukla. It still isn't functioning, according to Bishnoi.

The center's original purpose has also shifted without a clear fix. It was set up as a boarding-cum-wrestling facility but now operates as a day-boarding center only. Bishnoi says it currently has no official SAI coach on staff, meaning he's effectively running things without the formal government coaching support the center was built to provide.

The Infrastructure Question

One leaky roof at one regional training center might seem like a local problem in a country managing thousands of public facilities on limited budgets. Roofs leak. Plumbing fails. Local governments everywhere juggle competing repair priorities.

But this facility trained coaching talent good enough to prepare a movie star for one of Bollywood's biggest hits, and it still serves more than 80 active wrestlers who could represent India in national and international competition. A government sports authority letting that pipeline degrade to the point where female athletes have to ask neighbors to use a bathroom is a maintenance failure with real consequences.

The Times of India report doesn't name a Sports Authority of India spokesperson responding to Bishnoi's account. No timeline for repairs, no budget commitment, and no explanation for why the center currently lacks an official SAI coach appears in available reporting.

Bishnoi is continuing to coach without a functioning changing room, a fixed toilet, or an SAI coach on staff, in a building whose roof failed to hold up through another monsoon season. Whether the Sports Authority of India responds with repairs, funding, or public comment remains to be seen.