M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story | Hindi Biopic | Personal Reviews

Making a quality biopic is a tough thing. And when you are making it for a sportsman (or a legend in any field for that matter) is alive, and active in his/her career; it is even tougher. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of Indian cricket team, one of the smartest wicket keepers in the world is also considered as one of the (if not the) best match finisher. He have guided Indian cricket team to win the second world cup. As cricket is not less than a religion in India, he have made his place almost immortal here.

So when Neeraj Pandey took the job to direct a biopic on Mahendra Singh Dhoni – with the title – M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story – he knew the challenges in front of him. Though there are many biopics made in Indian for sportsperson in recent times including Mary Kom (which was average, not as good as her biography – Unbreakable – on which it is based), Azhar (have some good scenes but failed to impress as a product), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (a comparatively good movie), Paan Singh Tomar (it is remarkable movie about an athlete who ultimately became a bandit). They have their highs and lows.

Most of the cricket oriented films have a problem to film cricket scenes which look effective. As viewers watch matches on regular bases and the broadcasts are of fantastic quality. Multiple camera setup, giant screens, superb flood lights, and a real enthusiastic crowd who is just enjoying the fun, makes it ecstatic . And creating those effects in a film or TV Series, is almost impossible. We know about many movies which, even after so huge budget also, fails in filming realistic cricket scenes. Probably it is the game where we are having largest amount of people watching it on and off the ground.

So when we went for M. S. Dhoni : The Untold Story we were curious to see if the movie have authentic cricket scenes. And to our delight, we found it containing most authentic cricket scenes we have seen ever.

Book Plot:

The story of the movie is quite known due to two reasons.

• M. S. Dhoni is active player and is much popular
• There is so much written about movie and some of movie scenes

So we will just take a bird’s eye view to it.
Paan Singh Tomar a water man (associated with cricket) in Ranchi got blessed with a baby boy who is later named as Mahndra Singh. Friends and loved ones used to call him “Mahi”. He was good at Football and other games however had never consider to play cricked.

But he is destined to it, so ahead of inter-school competition, falling short of a player due to upcoming exams, the sports teacher was looking for an alternative. Mahi became the choice.

He performed well in cricket, but his coach restricted him to wicket keeping only. Once he got a chance to bat, and he smashed the ball through out the boundary. He was then recognised to play for regional teams and then Ranji Trophy. He also got a job as a ticket collector in Railway. But, he found that the job is taking away his passion from him and eventually he left the job and focused his efforts on cricket only.

He taste success and failures both, which made him a nice human being who is down to earth and care for the morals. During the period he also found his love of life. But the destiny have something else for him in mind.

How he keeps himself composed after a few mishaps and how he ultimately tastes the real success in his game and his real life, is the rest of the story.

The story of the movie is scripted in simple manner and it goes ahead in linear fashion, though the entire story is told in a flash back.

There is a long time since we have watched real middle class family and homes explored on the silver screen. And they are explored so effectively. There are small details which are taken care of. For example a mole below the left eye of Dhoni is shown throughout the movie. When we see Mr. Paan Singh Dhoni is watiting at the hospital outside the labor room, there is one more fellow is sitting there with his three sons. See, the shirts of all three borthers were made from the same cloth and they reflect each other in terms of hair styles also. This is how it was used to be.

Also Mahi (when grown up) drives a bike by asking for it from his friend, we see the Yamaha bike. Yes, it was the bike (2 Stroke) which was popular among youngsters. The dress of all the characters, the ornaments they use, the places they live at, the mindsent they have; everything is just picked from the real life. The vegetable market scenes are good. Also see the expressions of all family members and friends and coach and his family, upon Dhoni’s world cup shot. Each and every person is a must watch. Without speaking also the expressions tells you how they care for their loved ones (yes, you read it right, they do not care for Dhoni only, but for their own loved ones too). A friend is not interested in doing business while watching Dhoni playing his dream, the coach’s wife is happy because her husband is happy, aha.. so much to look in detail in the movie scenes.

And the power of the movie lies in this simple yet effective and realistic presentation.

Of course the story is modified a little (for example, real M. S. Dhoni doesn’t have a sister). One needs to understand that it is a commercian movie and not a documentary and should go watching the movie with the same perceptions.

When someone rises exceptionally well, there must be a support system behind him/her which have done so much good work for him/her including personal sacrifices. Real friends and lovely family members are the best to count on when you need a support. And the stuff is shown in the movie in fantastic manner.

The way Dhoni learn his famous “helicopter shot”, how he treated his friends and old coligues after getting so much success, the first meeting between him and Yuvraaj Singh; there are so many iconic sequences in the movies.

The movie re-utters the truth that if you have abilities and passion with determination and strength to work hard towards your goals, you can reach them, no matter what.

The special effects are so good that all the cricket scenes are the best we have seen on the silver screen ever.

The makeup man and wardrobe handler did their job well. And it is shown on the screen.

The movie is hold on the shoulders of Sushant Singh Rajput, who delivers a fantastic performance. We have noted the spark of talent in his early films like Byomkesh Bakshi also. He is simply superb. The good thing is he didn’t try to mimic M. S. Dhoni. Rather he tried to implement his habits and tried to think from Dhoni’s perspective. This is probably the toughest thing in addition to learn cricket and play it so authentically.

Bhumika chawla makes her mark in small role. Anupam Kher is good and convincing. Disha Patani and Kiara Advani both are confident and does justice to their roles. Rajesh Sharma is remarkable. Herry Tangri is delight to watch as Yuvraj Singh. Alok Panday (Chintu), Sandeep Nahar (Paramjeet), Kranti (Santosh), Sanjay Dadhich (Satya), Rhea Pawan Sharma (Ritu), Zeeshan (child MS Dhoni) all are good. The lady playing M. S. Dhoni’s mother is effective. We must say that almost everyone did justice to their roles. Missing any single name is injustice to him/her. Overall a film with power packed performances.

Neeraj Pandey is in complete control. He is associated with some other good films like A Wednesday!, Special 26, Baby and produced films like Rustom (among others), he knows his job. And he have handled the responsibility in the best way he can.

Of course the movie have it’s downs also, but they are negligible. The movie is a tale of inspiration.

Of course, it is a good and inspirational film, which must not be missed.

Did you watch this movie? Which part of the movie you like the best? What is the most effective scene of the movie according to you? Is there anything you want to share about this movie or this article? Do not hesitate, go ahead and leave your comments below. And yes, do not forget to share this article with your friends over various social networks via Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and others. And yes, you may like to subscribe to our RSS feeds and follow us on various Social networks to get latest updates for the site to land right in your mail box.