M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story is a great story.
The film’s best moments lie in the first half - the “untold” chapter of Dhoni’s life, made up of interactions with helpful locals championing his cause, and touching moments of self-doubt that the sportsman overcame. But while a great deal is achieved in the pre-interval portions - cinematically, as well as in Dhoni’s life - it renders a lot of what follows uninteresting. Pandey juggles Dhoni’s two romantic relationships - one with an ex-girlfriend, Priyanka, and the second with his eventual spouse, Sakshi - which weighs down the drama. Like in ‘Special 26’, Pandey uses these two relationships to break into songs, which dilutes the impact achieved to that point. The overall length of 192 minutes, then, begins to feel much longer and definitively exhausting.
Where ‘MS Dhoni - The Untold Story’ works is in its ability to make the small cogs work, by steadfastly bringing attention to the people most invested in Dhoni’s success. There’s a beautiful moment, for instance, where Dhoni’s employer draws an analogy between life and cricket - about playing every ball on its merit - that changes the course of the protagonist’s journey. The mother who deflects the tension away from studies; the school coach who veers him from a sport with limited potential in the country(football) to one with endless opportunity; the local administrator who pushes the cricketer’s cause; the friends who loyally support his fantasy of making it to the national team - it’s the pieces of the puzzle that make the film heartwarming.
MS Dhoni - The Untold Story’ is unique, in the sense that it’s backed by the sportsman whose life the film is based on. This facilitates access to, both, anecdotes and archives, but also diminishes credibility. The film walks the line between biopic and hagiography, often tilting towards the latter, and leaves out facets that are controversial, or even uncomfortable.
Go into the film with the knowledge that its aim is to immortalise Dhoni’s achievements on celluloid, and not to delve deeper into how he achieved them. Watch it, if for nothing else, to witness the best performance by a leading man in 2016 yet.