My colleague (and an ardent MS Dhoni bhakt) stormed into the room. "September 30, mark the date on calendar!", he said. "MS Dhoni- The untold story" he announced all animated, "release ho raha hain (will be released)!" he finished.
It was a normal day at work. I was munching on a plateful of chips and looking forward to all cricket-related action were lined up for the day. My colleague (and an ardent MS Dhonibhakt) stormed into the room. “September 30, mark the date on calendar!”, he said, folding his umbrella and dragging the chair next me. Totally unaware of the ongoings of the Bolly world, I asked in a meek, subdued tone, “but what about the India-New Zealand Tests?”. I received a cold glare. I had probably committed the mistake of my life. “You idiot!” he continued, “MS Dhoni: The Untold Story” he announced, all animated, “release ho raha hain (will be released)!” he finished. And there went the dream of looking up all cricket news in peace.
Working in the field of journalism, one cannot be biased about any particular aspect. However, at the end of the day we are human beings, and some emotions are bound to show. We are bound to have favourites. My heart still skips a beat or two when there is a mention of Sourav Ganguly on television, while the colleague of mine mentioned above lifts his head, no matter what he is doing at that point of time, to take a quick look at the TV screen whenever the word “Dhoni” enters his ears. Well, he is not the only one but one amongst many. For his achievements, his attitude, it was not hard for India’s beloved ‘Mahi’ to win hearts. Unfortunately, I am not one of them.
I further invited a few more cold glares my way, saying that I had not seen the trailer. “The whole of India watched it!” he stated, and I, being someone whose work revolves around cricket, felt guilty and wasted no time checking it out.
The trailer starts with a young-Dhoni-like figure (whom I knew to be Sushant Singh Rajput) sitting at Kharagpur station, and then a sudden flashback to his past life appears on screen. You would feel the sense of grandeur when you hear grand piano and violin in the background. The characters show how a young Dhoni was discovered by his school coach as a potential wicketkeeper, how his father (played by Anupam Kher in the movie) emphasised upon continuing with studies and getting a job; how he delivered standout performances and well within the 3-minute-17-second trailer, the filmmakers managed to frame a lot, from his decision of letting his job go to the glorious moment when Dhoni’s six helped India lift ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
It was all very heroic, no doubts there. But there were a couple of questions that immediately popped up on my mind: “Should a personality, who is still actively participating in his work, be a subject of a biopic?” is the first that came into my mind.
India is a land where cricket is something that is considered as one of the major issues, probably at times before many important ones. The game has a big role to play behind the country’s economic growth owing to the amount of money invested. Fortunately it has produced many a gem over the time. Over time there have been some to equal the stature of Dhoni, especially one that fit in the triple role of captain, wicketkeeper and batsman.
I have had my share of watching cricket-related biopics for the year. It was Azhar which, quite prominently for the person it revolves around, caught my attention. One of the most successful yet controversial names in the history of Indian cricket, Mohammad Azharuddin was, to be honest, the most buzzworthy name to make a movie on. People wanted to know what had happened, what was the truth, did Azhar do it and questions like that.
I watched Azhar with a hope that I myself will find some answers. Being born in the 1990s, I missed watching the cricketer live and also hoped to watch and know many of his on and off field trivia. By the end of the movie, all I had known was how Azhar the person, was according to himself and how adept Nargis Fakhri was at pouting and how bored Lara Dutta looked throughout the movie. I was also told that Kapil Dev looked like Varun Badola, but let us not get into it. His own explanations to the episode that ended his career, how he felt about his two wives, and worst, a cricketer cycling through Gulbagh with his girlfriend like the protagonist from any Bollywood potboiler.
While most of the celebrities stress upon not making their life public, was the biopic not making things public itself?
I remember how the real Dhoni got married. It was nothing like one of the most celebrated Indian skippers getting married. It was more of a private affair, escaping eyes of his fans and media. Even after the wedding, very few pictures from the ceremony were made public. In one scene of the trailer, the on-screen Dhoni is seen romancing a girl, possibly his wife. Were we talking privacy a few years back? And guess what, Dhoni himself is promoting the movie.
Make no mistake. There are things that need to be praised. No praise can be less for the way Sushant stepped into Dhoni’s shoes, emulating Dhoni’s exceptional batting style. Sushant also took the pains of taking wicketkeeping classes from Kiran More. Recreating moments special to the fans and keeping the emotions intact is a challenge every biopic direct. The audience will consist of the same people who have watched Dhoni’s feats in person. Dhoni is still an active cricketer, which means that people will be able to compare the real Dhoni and the reel Dhoni. There will be more critics than for most biopics usual to judge how accurately the moments have been captured on celluloid — certainly more than the biopics of Mary Kom and Milkha Singh, whose careers have hardly been followed with such keen interest.
While watching the trailer, it appeared to have more cricket related events than personal ones. Over time the producers released songs that depicted Dhoni singing with at least two women in vintage Bollywood fashion. For a person who has known Dhoni as one who keeps his personal life away from the eyes of media, the sudden changeover is a lot to take on. India has had good biopics or, say, sports related movies in the past. Chak de! India, for example, had songs but not relating to love affairs. The movie was a big success, both at box-office and among critics. Being a music lover, I could not help but love the compositions. At the same time the hardcore cricket fan in me yells on top of her voice: ‘why on earth?’
Like most of my friends, I will also watch the movie in near future. Only time will tell if the makers did justice to the story of one of India’s most successful captain. But a voice inside will keep on saying, we need not know what a cricketer does when he is in love!
(Paulami Chakraborty, a singer, dancer, artist, and photographer, loves the madness of cricket and writes about the game. She can be followed on Twitter at @Polotwitts)
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