By Neha Ravindran
Movie: M S Dhoni
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Anupam Kher, Rajesh Sharma, Kiara Advani, Disha Pathani
Genre: Biopic
India is a country where cricket is a religion that unites all countrymen. We revere our cricketers and give them no less love that what we reserve for Bollywood. MS Dhoni is a biopic on the Indian cricket captain where Neeraj Pandey has tried encapsulating his life into a movie with stories and truths that no one know.
Mahi is a young boy from the small town of Ranchi. Passionate about cricket he eats, breathes for cricket. His father wants him to get into government service and find a secure job for himself his sister tells him to dream big and become a railway manager. But his mother knows that Mahi is not made for small things. His dreams soar high and he will not give up till he touches the sky. But it will not be easy for a small town cricketer to make it big into the Indian cricket team. Will Mahinder Singh Dhoni’s struggles see light or will he forever be stuck in a job that is far away from his passion?
MS Dhoni is not just a story on Mahi’s life. It is the story of all the people who played a role in the rise of Dhoni. Behind every successful person there are many people who went out of their way to help them. Neeraj Pandey pays due honour to every person who pitched in to make Dhoni who he is today. Every supporting actor in movie, right from Anupam Kher as his father to Rajesh Sharma has the coach who discovered the talent in Dhoni have added onto the narration of the movie. Sushant Singh Rajput has worked hard to get into the skin of the character. He has carefully studied the sportsperson’s mannerisms and trademark styles and adopted them into his acting. I remember reading in an interview, where the actor recounts that he spend hours interviewing Dhoni to the point of exasperating the latter with his questions. The director must be credited for having captured every stage of growth and using the actors potential to bring out the struggle without letting the story turn monotonous. Kiara Advani and Disha Patani play Dhoni’s love interests and are definitely actors waiting to showcase their potential.
Music by Amaal Malik is soothing and melodious. ‘Kaun Tujhe’ sung by Palak Mucchhal has been paying in my head since the radio took over playing it. Cinematography by Santosh Thundiyil is brilliant and engaging. If I were to nitpick, the only drawback, I could drawout is the length of the movie. But that’s not a complain merely an observation as compressing someone’s life into a movie is a tedious task and every scene becomes crucial to building the character’s life journey.
A treat for every cricket fan and a happy week end for movie lovers, I give my double head up for this one.
My verdict: ****
