Fact is stronger than fiction, Satyajit Ray's character Lalmohan Ganguly blabbers in a Feluda book. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat's story proves Lalmohan Babu's unintentional cliche-buster right.

Amir Khan's Dangal was supposedly based on Vinesh's life. But comparing that to her real life struggle is like comparing a Tinkle Comic to War and Peace.

Vinesh has had to deal with more than just a vindictive coach or a Bapu she can call "hanikarak" jokingly. She has had to fight bigger people than the boys she beats up in the movie weaved around her and her sister's lives.

And the climax, unfolding in the Paris Olympics, is beyond Dangal's Commonwealth Games gold. Overnight she has gone from India's Gold hope to being given intravenous drips for dehydration, losing a sure shot medal for weighing 100 grams more than her weight class.

‘Dangal’ was fictionalised. This script is too tragic for Bollywood.

"Fingers crossed for India's first Gold Medal...Vinesh Phogat at one point took part in protests where she raised the slogans of "Modi teri kabr khudegi". Yet she was given the opportunity to represent the nation and best of the training, coaches, and facilities. Beauty of democracy and a great leader," Bollywood star-turned-Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut wrote on Instagram before the news of Vinesh failing the weight test broke.

That’s because on her way to Paris, the wrestler from Haryana was locked in a battle for her dignity, against the very institution that is meant to nurture the sport – the Wrestling Federation of India.

Less than a year ago, Vinesh Phogat wasn't training in a state-of-the-art facility. She was sleeping on Delhi streets, protesting against the very people meant to support her.

"We honestly did not think it would be such a long process," Vinesh had said during the protest. "We thought we would protest, and it would be sorted out. But we didn't know that there are such people at every stage."

The protest, which began in January 2023, saw over 30 Indian wrestlers demand the dissolution of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). They alleged that WFI coach and president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had been sexually harassing female players for years.

"After reporting Bhushan to Prime Minister Modi and sports minister Anurag Thakur, I was mentally harassed, tortured, and threatened to be killed," Vinesh had revealed to reporters at Jantar Mantar during the second phase of protests in April 2023.

Not exactly the stuff of feel-good sports movies.

"It's not possible for all to fight the system and we understood that," she told reporters. "But we started the protest, so where could we run?"

Her fight against Brij Bhushan Singh, the most powerful man in India's wrestling world, became her real-life dangal. This Olympics was meant to be her redemption, her chance to prove that she could overcome not just physical opponents, but an entire system stacked against her.

In May, Vinesh took to X (formerly Twitter), laying bare the obstacles in her path:

“......despite being just under three months away from the Paris Olympics, the Wrestling Federation of India has yet to announce an official trials format, including the date, time, and venue. It is to be noted that all other federations have announced the qualification pathway and trials process with a clear format way back in December 2023 or latest January 2024.”

Vinesh Phogat had vowed to win an Olympic medal in Paris – to prove a point.

"I will look him [Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh] in the eye and medal leke aungi main, tu dekh [bring back a medal, you watch]," she had told ESPN's Shyam Vasudevan in November last year.

Fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia shed light on Vinesh's deeper motivation. "She said to me, ‘I am fighting for the future generation of wrestlers. Not for myself, my career is done and this is my last Olympics. I want to fight for the young women wrestlers who will come and fight for them so that they can wrestle safely’," Punia told ESPN.

Dangal ends with one of the sisters on the podium. Vinesh's real-life Olympic journey concludes on a clinic bed. One day she is the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the Olympics final, the next day that record has been erased.

Last heard, a Delhi court has ordered framing of charges against Brij Bhushan Singh.

Vinesh Phogat’s real journey isn't just about wrestling, or winning medals; it's about grappling with a system that wanted to pin her down.