What cricket fans want from the Mahendra Singh Dhoni biopic

Following the box office and critical success of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Mary Kom, and Paan Singh Tomar, sporting biopics have established themselves as a raging trend. Inevitably, then, Bollywood is now mining the motherlode of India’s cricketing legends. The year 2016 will see movies on three former captains.

Of the three, the one on Mohammed Azharuddin was released in May 2016, while the other two – on Sachin Tendulkar and on Mahendra Singh Dhoni – are due later this year. But what’s unique about M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story is that it’s based on the life of an active sportsperson. And that raises the question: how do you draw such a movie to a close? What if MSD scores the first 300 in ODI cricket after the movie is finished?

Luckily for the movie – and unluckily for Indian fans – MSD’s dimming cricketing fortunes haven’t produced any biopic-worthy moments of late. So Neeraj Pandey’s upcoming film has acquired for itself the timing of a fitting tribute to the once – and still – Indian captain, who’s played by Sushant Singh Rajput.

Personal history

Like all great legends, Dhoni’s is also founded on historic performances and acts of grace and fortitude on the sports field. But his story cannot be separated from the backdrop of his personal circumstances before he became a cricketer. A powerful tribute needs to do justice to both these facets of Dhoni’s life, and if the teaser is anything to go by, that is precisely what the attempt with this film is.

The trailer opens with MSD’s stint as a ticket-checker for South Eastern railways, and, over 50 seconds, sets this little-known aspect of Dhoni’s past against the real-life commentary from Ravi Shastri as the cricketer deposited that famous six over long on – the one that etched his face on history books and the Indian imagination in 2011. It is in the everyday detailing of menial train-station activities contrasted with the realism of live commentary from the grandest stage of them all, the almost mythical phenomenon, that Dhoni’s life can be gauged.

This is the kind of intergrated portrayal of Mahi’s journey that fans might be yearning for, which almost guarantees the movie’s success. It also gives the makers freedom to try to make a movie different from the crowd-pandering and sanctimonious Azhar or the cinematic hagiography that Sachin’s biopic is sure to shape up as, with the demigod playing himself in a role that will be to cricket what Eminem’s 8 Mile was for rap music, only bigger.

Can we have the whole truth?

Tanmay Bhatt’s comedy routine featuring Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar turned into a tragedy of social vilification, proving that any portrayal of the second Little Master (let’s never forget Sunil Gavaskar was the first) is still a controversial enterprise in India. So we can probably expect a sanctified collection of Sachin’s sparkling gems, both on and off the field, a la Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, in the biopic.

By contrast, Dhoni’s “untold story”, as the film touts itself to be, can afford to be a grittier, more realistic tale of heroism and leadership. Unlike the shoddy paintjob over the controversial and layered career of Azharuddin that Azhar the movie was, a look at MSD’s legend in a way that does not shy away from the share of controversy that came with being him, be it the CSK match-fixing controversy or the so-called spat with Virender Sehwag which allegedly led to the latter’s unceremonial departure, would make for a mature exploration of a life that is an inspiration to millions.

Beyond the field

While portraying the meteoric rise in Dhoni’s – and, with him, India’s – cricketing fortunes from the 2007 T20 World Cup triumph to the 2011 World Cup title, if the film manages to also present MSD as a leader and a person through the less-than-great hours of Indian cricket, it will make for balanced filmmaking.

There are suggestions that Dhoni’s personal life plays a significant role in the film. It is in the honesty of the portrayal that the Dhoni biopic can distinguish itself, by offering more than token touches of vulnerability – much like Dhoni himself.

Also encouraging is the use of actual commentary in the teaser. If more of cricket commentary is used, and historic moments like the winning six at Wankhede kept true to real life, it will add to the wave of nostalgia that the movie is sure to pack. And if the research involving Dhoni’s peers, such as Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli – not to mention Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly – is thorough, the film can also aspire to present a picture of MSD as India’s greatest captain. How well all the actors can play the real-life stars they will be portraying will be important to the cinematic experience and, probably, the success of the film.

Autobiographies and biographies are read as much for what they don’t say as for what they do. With Dhoni and his family having cleared the film after viewing it, what the film reveals – and what it doesn’t – will also be a measure of the real life Mahi.

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