The trailer of the upcoming biopic of Indian cricketer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was launched on Thursday in Mumbai, by the cricketer himself. Titled M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, the film has actor Sushant Singh Rajput playing the Indian ODI captain.
The movie narrates the struggles, hard-work and hardships that made the accomplished sportsman that Dhoni is. It looks like the movie might also address some of the big controversies in the Indian captain’s career. Reportedly, Dhoni and his family have already watched the film and cleared it.
Directed by Neeraj Pandey and produced by Fox Star Studios and Inspired Entertainment, M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story releases on 30 September.
Watch the trailer here.
The trailer begins with glimpses of Dhoni’s childhood where he learns the nuances of the game and gets addicted to it. Actor Anupam Kher plays the cricketer’s father who, like every Indian parent, asks his son to get a ‘real’ job instead of chasing runs on a playground. The trailer shows Dhoni yielding to his dad’s persuasion and taking up the job of a ticket collector at the Indian Railways. The movie, as the trailer hints, also includes the controversies in the Indian captain’s life. In a scene that could lead to speculations, the trailer shows him asking the management to drop a few senior cricketers as he feels they are not ‘fit to play’.
Incidentally, it was under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy that Dhoni began his international career. He played for a long time under Rahul Dravid’s leadership, and Sachin Tendulkar was always a guide to him.
“As I walked the path, the journey became my life. Here’s a glimpse,” this is what Dhoni (the real one) tweeted while revealing the trailer on Twitter. At the trailer launch event, ‘Captain Cool’ Dhoni, said that the film had a real take on his journey so far and did not exactly glorify him. “When Neeraj came to me for the film, I told him, “ask whatever you want to ask but beyond that I want this film to be your own” I answered all his questions and then he took it ahead,” the 35-year-old cricketer said.
Going by the trailer, without many hero-worship moments, the movie might be a gritty and honest story of the personal and professional life of the Indian cricketer whose career seems to have moved past its glorious phase.