Movie: M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story Release Year: 2016
Country: India (Bollywood) Genre: Sports, Biography
Languages: Hindi (Few Dialogues in English)
M.S.Dhoni: The Untold Story Review:
M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, was among the most anticipated films of Bollywood this year. The reason is quite simple, it is supposedly a biopic on Indian’s greatest captain and perhaps its best cricketer (at least in terms of achievements in International Arena). The movie has a tag line “The Man You Know, The Journey You Don’t”. All this made quite a buzz around the movie months before it was released. The movie got even more attention when in May this year Emran Hashmi starer Azhar (Azharuddin’s Biopic a former Indian Captain too) failed to charm the audience and critics. But, unfortunately after all these big talks M.S. Dhoni’s so called “Untold Story” too fails to do justice to the “Biography” genre.
Well, I said this because in a Biography you got to show the good as well as bad times and circumstances. But, Neeraj Pandey’s Dhoni biopic has very easily bypassed the “controversies” that the Indian Captain has gone through or have at least seen in his playing career. The reasons can be many but two of the widely speculated ones are:
- This movie is being funded by Arun Pandey (A close M.S. Dhoni friend and associate).
- M.S. is still the captain of the Indian National Cricket Team in One Day and T20 formats. And, he is willing play till 2019 (something he said in a press conference earlier this year).
So, amid all these scenarios Neeraj Pandey’s M.S. Dhoni doesn’t turn out to be a great piece of cinema, but yes a popular movie for the masses in this “cricket mad” country. The movie talks about Dhoni’s life till 2011 World Cup. And here lies a great setback for audience like me. We wanted to know so much about his relations with Ganguly, Gambhir, Sehwag, Zaheer and many others. But, nothing has been told about them and abrupt ends of their career. Mind you meanwhile Gautam is back in the test squad but the others have retired long ago.
We are also not told how Dhoni always keeps calm in tough situations? Is it natural or something he has developed over time. There is also no mention of his relationship with Lakshmi Rai? We also don’t get to know what happened in IPL that led to the suspension of Chennai Super Kings (A team Dhoni has lead since the inception of IPL in 2008). His close association with N. Srinivasan (Former BCCI Chief) too has been kept at bay from the audience. All in all, it can be said easily that M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story is a great PR attempt for the Indian captain that sidelines all the tough/rough/controversial phases of his career and focuses mostly on his struggle to become a cricketer. The movie of course tells the story of his deceased girlfriend (Disha Patani as Priyanka Jha) and present wife (Kiara Advani as Sakshi)
Well, after all the criticism in the above mentioned part you might not be willing to read this review any further. But, as a movie/cinema lover I got to do this while writing. I am not criticizing Dhoni or his tenure, but I am just not convinced with this film been an “Untold Story”. Whatever is shown we all know thoroughly. It is just that I am disappointed with Neeraj Pandey who is a very good director, but it seems he too was not brave enough to rack up any controversy. Anyways, now let’s talk about the good part of it.
What’s Good in M.S. Dhoni’s Untold Story?
While biopic nature of the film will be a topic of contention. There is no dispute in the fact that Sushant Singh Rajput has won the hearts with his acting. I am extremely glad to see his body language that would make even Dhoni blush. He has mastered it all very well. His way of talking and face expressions too are very much Dhoni like. It seems that this movie will be a landmark movie for Sushant’s future as a “movie star”. Kiara Advani too is convincing as Sakshi (although there’s not much for her in the film anyway). Disha Patani has done a fabulous job as Dhoni’s first girlfriend. The rest of the cast too has given their best. It’s a nice thing about M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story that despite no big star playing any other cricketer’s role the film has still looked pretty decent and one feel no void in it. The music of the film is really great and enjoyable. Editing is fine, choreography competent and background score comprehensive.
My Verdict & Rating of the film
I would rate M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, 7/10. The film has all aspects of being a good movie and it’s a must watch for cricket lovers as well as general audience. But, there’s a word of caution from me “Don’t just think that you now know all you wanted to know”. Because the legend of M.S. Dhoni is not over yet and there’s much “UNTOLD” in it that we would love to know about and will know one day…