Published: Oct 07, 2016, 06:26 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 07, 2016, 06:26 PM (IST)
While the biopic on life of India’s most successful cricket captain MS Dhoni is all set to touch the INR 100-crore mark on domestic box office on its eighth day since release — having already accumulated over INR 94 crores in the first week — his own family members and relatives in his ancestral village have been deprived of watching it. Quite ironically, ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’ is yet to reach Dhoni’s ancestral village of Lawali in Uttarakhand. And going by the current state of affairs, it seems the residents of Lawali will not be able to watch it in theatres, according to a report by CatchNews.
The nearest cinema hall to Lawali is 115 kms away in Haldwani, Nainital district. The nearest place from where journey to Haldwani could be started is 5 kms away from Lawali, at Jainti. Even in Almora, which is the district headquarters, there are no cinema halls. Even if there were any theatres there, the residents of Lawali would have to travel 75 kms to watch their favourite son on the silver screen. All this because Lawali, which is a remote village in Uttarakhand, is yet to get road connectivity and is far away from the mainstream development activities. And for the same reason, the movie has failed to create any buzz in the small region. The villagers, as a matter of fact, are now waiting for the day when the movie is screened on television.
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Dhoni’s father’s brother Ganpat still lives in Lawali with his family. But neither uncle, nor any of his family members has watched the movie as yet. Forget about entertainment, the villagers have to struggle even for basic amenities. “We have to ferry sick villagers on dolis (palanquin) to the nearest hospital located at Jainti. We recently submitted a proposal to the district administration demanding building a stadium at our village – for which the villagers have indicated their willingness to donate their land. But, so far nothing has happened,” Dhoni’s cousin Hayat was quoted as saying in the report.
Dhoni, who has had a busy cricketing career in last decade or so, last came to the village in 2003. His father Pan Singh, who left Lawali in 1972-73 to join the Ranchi Steel Factory, makes regular visits though. One of the village residents Puran Bhandari says: “Pan Singh uncle came here in 2011 to attend a wedding function. Uncle may have left several years ago to settle down in Ranchi, but he continues to keep in touch with his roots.”
Dhoni’s success in international cricket may have brought Lawali into media spotlight and attracted more tourists over the years, but it has had zero bearing on its infrastructure development. As a result, his own people were unable to watch his biopic. All they can do now is wait, and wait endlessly for a theatre to come to their village. And of course for the movie to be telecast on TV, so that they all can watch it together.
