Neeraj Pandey’s’MS Dhoni: the Untold Story’ opens with MS Dhoni in the dressing room during the India-Sri Lanka 2011 WC finals. Sushant Singh Rajput, who plays the lead in the eponymous film, is glued to the television set, before he decides to take the pitch against Murali instead of Yuvraj Singh. With that one stroke, Rajput, through his posture and mannerisms later in the film, makes a mark as the on-screen Indian skipper.
In a three-hour effort of making the real meet the reel, Pandey takes us through Ranchi where Dhoni had spent his childhood, his brief stint with the Railways and his initial formative years.
Anupam Kher as Dhoni’s reserved and conservative father does a commendable job, bringing the aspiration-vs-angst conflict to the fore. The veteran Kher, who wants his son to follow in his own footsteps by bagging a stable, decent Government job through the sports quota, symbolises a typical middle-class trait.
But Rajput has bigger things on his mind, and the passion for the game makes him push boundaries. With some support from his friends, coach and reporting manager in the South-Eastern Railway of the Kharagpur division - the supporting cast does not let down at all - Rajput goes against his father’s wishes to carve a mark for himself.
While the music - by the trio Amaal Mallik, Rochak Kohli, Sanjoy Chowdhury - doesn’t exactly set the foot tapping, the camerawork by Santosh Thundiyil stands out. A special mention must be made of the Yorker shot which a local boy teaches Rajput.
Apart from a few racy moments - when Dhoni makes it to a Duleep Trophy match in the nick of time - this outing by Pandey lacks zing and punch that one expected from a film promising to tell the rise of the most successful skippers that India has seen in contemporary times. Rajput pretty much carries the film on his own shoulders, making it a one-man show with timely help from the support staff.
For Dhoni fans, ’MS Dhoni-The Untold Story, ’ is a must-watch! For Neeraj Pandey’s followers, this is watchable but not his best!