With the film being set in multiple decades, the Cinematographer Satyajit Pande and colorist Ashirwad Hadkar experimented with a number of tests for skin tones and costumes during the pre-production stage. Natural light was majorly employed in the film. To portray the 1980s, the "sources [were kept] white hot and the skin tones yellow-warm" for the day sequences, and "a consistent bulb warm tone was maintained" for the night sequences. With varying colour temperatures in the process of filming over an entire day starting early mornings till late evenings, visual effects plates were used and digital intermediate process employed.

Dangal performed particularly well in China. This was attributed partly to Khan's popularity in China owing to the success of his previous films 3 Idiots (2009) and PK (2014) there. When 3 Idiots released in China, the country was only the 15th largest film market, partly due to China's widespread pirate DVD distribution at the time. However, it was the pirate market that introduced 3 Idiots to most Chinese audiences, becoming a cult hit in the country. It became China's 12th favourite film of all time, according to ratings on Chinese film review site Douban, with only one domestic Chinese film (Farewell My Concubine) ranked higher. Aamir Khan gained a large growing Chinese fanbase as a result. By 2013, China grew to become the world's second largest film market (after the United States), paving the way for Aamir Khan's Chinese box office success, with Dhoom 3 (2013), PK, and eventually Dangal. His TV show Satyamev Jayate also had a cult following in China, establishing Khan as someone associated with quality films and committed to social causes.

In 2012, Divya Rao, a member of Disney's creative team, read a newspaper article about Mahavir Singh Phogat, who trained his daughters to become world champions. She thought this would make for a great film, and spoke about this to Siddharth Roy Kapur and other Disney personnel. Disney approached Nitesh Tiwari to write and direct the story. Tiwari met Phogat and his daughters, who instantly agreed to tell the story. Tiwari worked on the screenplay for close to a year before going to Ronnie Screwvala, the CEO of UTV Motion Pictures, and Kapur with the final script, while suggesting that Aamir Khan play Phogat.

Dangal has had a political impact, with the film being screened at the Indian parliament in a bid to spread the message of women empowerment. It has also had an effect on China–India relations, with Chinese President Xi Jinping saying he enjoyed the film when he met Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. The film resonated with Chinese audiences, with Diangying Yishu (Film Art) magazine stating, "It is like the story of a Chinese village girl becoming an Olympic champion."

After the release of PK in 2014, Aamir Khan announced that he would play the role of a Wrestler in his next film titled Dangal directed by Nitesh Tiwari, a cinematographic biography of the former Wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat. It would be produced by Khan himself and Disney India. Khan said to reporters, "Nitesh has written a wonderful story. The topic is very important, it's very dramatic. It highlights the discrimination that is meted out to the girl child in India. The best part is that he has done it in a very entertaining manner. The heart of the story is emotional, but it also has a lot of humour. Raju Hirani has this unique way to tell a story where he says something socially very relevant but he tells his story in a very entertaining manner. Similarly Nitesh has written a very entertaining lovely script, the dialogues are very entertaining. Each time I Listen to the dialogues, I laugh a lot. I cry as well as laugh."

There was political controversy upon Dangal's release in India. In November 2015, Aamir Khan expressed the feelings that he and his wife Kiran Rao had about growing intolerance in India, which led to Khan facing intense backlash for the comments, including violent threats. As part of continued backlash against Khan's comments, there were calls for protests and boycotts against his film Dangal. In October 2016, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) called for protests against the film. Following its release in December 2016, #BoycottDangal was trending on Twitter, and BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya called for protests against the film.

Deadline.com reported that Dangal would open in 331 North American screens, the hitherto highest for a Bollywood film, on 21 December 2016. Releasing in 279 theaters in the United States, it collected US$282,280 and US$42,816 from 24 theaters in Canada on the first day; an overall occupancy of 65 per cent was reported. It grossed US$12.4 million in North America becoming the highest grossing Indian film there, to be surpassed only months later by Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. Dangal was released in 95 screens across the Gulf countries and was last reported to have collected ₹59.04 crore from the region. It also received the highest opening in Australia for a Bollywood film (41 screens), and collected US$528,000 in its first weekend, opening at second spot, behind Rogue One. Having collected over ₹12.65 crore in the country, it became the highest grossing Indian film there. It collected US$460,000 (₹2.98 crore) in New Zealand, and was last reported to have collected US$4 million (₹25.78 crore) in the UK. In Turkey, where the film released on 18 August 2017, Dangal grossed US$428,201 as of 15 October 2017.

At the 64th National Film Awards in 2017, there was controversy over the National Film Award for Best Actor, which the committee awarded to Akshay Kumar for his performance in Rustom, instead of Aamir Khan's performance for Dangal. Committee member Priyadarshan, who has worked with Kumar on several films, gave the following explanation for awarding Kumar instead of Khan:

Similarly, Dangal was not awarded at the 18th IIFA Awards, where Kumar was also not awarded. According to the IIFA Awards organizers:

Ananya Bhattacharya of India Today gave a four out of five star rating and wrote, "the fights, emotional turmoil, the father-daughter tiffs, take centre-stage in Dangal." She added, "Tiwari uses every single trope in the book of Bollywood Sports films ... with a freshness and expertise seldom seen." Awarding the film a full five stars, Rohit Bhatnagar of Deccan Chronicle called it "an unmissable epic". Terming the narrative "engaging to the core", he drew comparisons to Chak De! India, while commending the acting performances and cinematography. Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com felt that Dangal was "one of those few films that discuss strategy and technique in a manner that's easy and entertaining to grasp". Calling it an "exhilarating creation" and praising the acting performances, she wrote, "the raw, rough, visceral choreography of the fights ... evokes sheer awe". Lisa Tsering of The Hollywood Reporter felt the film is driven by "emotional resonance, technical artistry and compelling performances" while adding that "it’s so thrilling to watch. Not only do the family scenes ring true, but Tiwari approaches the wrestling sequences with intelligence and sensitivity."