Mahavir Phogat (Aamir Khan) lives in a village in Haryana with his wife Daya (Sakshi). Mahavir is an amateur wrestler and has won several local championships. However, he has to give up professional wrestling because he takes up a job to feed his family

However, wrestling never really leaves him. Mahavir dreams of the day when he will sire a son who will bring a gold medal for India. Unfortunately his wife gives birth to four daughters, the first two of who are Geeta (Fatima) and Babita (Sanya).

Mahavir's brother also lives with him. He has a son who is of the same age as Geeta and Babita.

One day when Mahavir and his wife return from the market, some villagers bitterly complain to him about how their sons have been beaten up.

Mahavir assumes that his nephew has beaten up those boys. However, he soon realises that it is his older daughters who have done this. He apologies to the villagers and he reprimands his nephew. After the villagers have left, he smiles. He suddenly realises that he doesn't need a son to train in wrestling. Even his daughters can do Dangal.

From the very next morning, Mahavir begins training his daughters. The young school going girls hate their boot camp. It is tough. And they are constantly falling asleep in school because they are so tired.

They also get teased in school for walking like men. One day the girls decide to trick their father and not wake up for the training. They change the time on the alarm clock and sleep peacefully. They also make excuses of how their long hair is causing issues in the training. Aamir then gets a local barber to cut his daughters' long tresses. The girls plead but he doesn't pay heed. In school, the girls get teased. They hate their father for making them going through so much embarrassment. 

the girls get teased. They hate their father for making them going through so much embarrassment. One day they attend a school mate's wedding without telling their father. When they tell their friend who is getting married how they hate their father for making them going through the wrestling training, she replies that it was nice of their father to at least give them some training, unlike her who was being forced to marry at the age of 14. The girls learn to appreciate their dad. Next morning they set off for training and from then on, they train real hard. Aamir allows them to wear shorts for the training and he even allows them to eat chicken. Once he thinks they are ready, he gets Geeta to participate in her first Dangal where she beats a local pehelwan and wins Rs 50. Aamir preserves this 50 rupees in an album

After this Geeta wins several tournaments and even wins a gold. When she grows up she goes to the National Sports Academy in Patiala and participates in several international tournaments.