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[[Disha Patani]] plays Dhoni's ex-girlfriend, Priyanka Jha in the film and she was cast in the beginning of January 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Disha-Patani-to-play-MS-Dhonis-ex-girlfriend/articleshow/50438302.cms|title=Disha Patani to play MS Dhoni’s ex-girlfriend
[[Disha Patani]] plays Dhoni's ex-girlfriend, Priyanka Jha in the film and she was cast in the beginning of January 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Disha-Patani-to-play-MS-Dhonis-ex-girlfriend/articleshow/50438302.cms|title=Disha Patani to play MS Dhoni’s ex-girlfriend
Sonil Dedhia|author=TNN|work=[[Times of India]]|date=January 5, 2016|accessdate=October 6, 2016}}</ref> It is Patani's Bollywood debut performance.<ref name="F2"/> For her role, Patani had to learn [[Asuri]], an endangered tribal dialect from [[Jharkhand]] in which Priyanka and Dhoni used to converse in. The filmmakers felt it was necessary to convey this and decision to use the dialect was finalised in the latter stages of production. Hence, Patani had to learn the language in very quick time. She worked with a tribal linguistic expert for two hours a day and picked up the language in just a [[fortnight]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Disha-Patani-learnt-an-endangered-tribal-language-for-M-S-Dhoni-The-Untold-Story/articleshow/53783925.cms|title=Disha Patani learnt an endangered tribal language for ‘M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’|author=TNN|work=[[Times of India]]|date=August 20, 2016|accessdate=October 6, 2016}}</ref>
Sonil Dedhia|author=TNN|work=[[Times of India]]|date=January 5, 2016|accessdate=October 6, 2016}}</ref> For her role, Patani had to learn [[Asuri]], an endangered tribal dialect from [[Jharkhand]] in which Priyanka and Dhoni used to converse in. The filmmakers felt it was necessary to convey this and decision to use the dialect was finalised in the latter stages of production. Hence, Patani had to learn the language in very quick time.<ref name="Lang"> Learning the language wasn't easy for Disha as not only is Asuri an endangered language but there are very few references to it anywhere as only a handful people speak it in India and there is no script development for it. She worked with a tribal linguistic expert for two hours a day and picked up the language in just a [[fortnight]].<ref name="Lang"/>{{cite web|url=http://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Disha-Patani-learnt-an-endangered-tribal-language-for-M-S-Dhoni-The-Untold-Story/articleshow/53783925.cms|title=Disha Patani learnt an endangered tribal language for ‘M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’|author=TNN|work=[[Times of India]]|date=August 20, 2016|accessdate=October 6, 2016}}</ref> It is Patani's Bollywood debut performance.<ref name="F2"/>


===Principal photography===
===Principal photography===

Revision as of 06:07, 6 October 2016

M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story
Official poster
Directed byNeeraj Pandey
Written byNeeraj Pandey
(Dialogue)
Screenplay byNeeraj Pandey
Dilip Jha
Story byNeeraj Pandey
Dilip Jha
Produced byArun Pandey
Fox Star Studios
Starring
CinematographySantosh Thundiyil
Edited byShree Narayan Singh
Music bySongs:
Amaal Mallik
Rochak Kohli
Score:
Sanjoy Chowdhury
Production
companies
Fox Star Studios
Inspired Entertainment
Friday FilmWorks
Distributed byFox star studios
Release date
  • 30 September 2016 (2016-09-30)
[1]
Running time
190 minutes[2]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹80–100 crore (US$12–15 million)[3][4]
Box office₹135.85 crore (US$20.4 million)[5]

M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story is a 2016 Indian biographical sports film directed by Neeraj Pandey, based on the life of Indian cricketer and the current ODI and T20I captain of the Indian national cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.[6][7][8] Fox Star Studios distributes the film and produced it jointly with Inspired Entertainment and Arun Pandey, in association with Friday Film Works.[9] The film features Sushant Singh Rajput as Dhoni and Disha Patani, Kiara Advani, and Anupam Kher in supporting roles.

The film was released on 30 September 2016.[10][11] A teaser trailer was released on 15 March 2016, in conjunction with the commencement of 2016 ICC World Twenty20. The film was dubbed in Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi languages.[12] The film emerged a hit at the Indian box office.[13] The film was declared tax-free in Uttar Pradesh and in Dhoni's home state, Jharkhand.

Plot

The movie follows the journey of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a budding cricketer from Ranchi becoming the most successful captain of Indian Cricket Team . The movie begins its screenplay with the ICC Cricket World Cup Final (India vs Sri Lanka) in the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai where Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Sushant Singh Rajput) is watching the match live on screen. He decides to take the stand, and tells the authorities that he would go for batting if the wicket falls down. Dhoni takes up his bat and leads down the stairs amidst the roar of the crowd. The movie then sets to a flashback in Ranchi, Bihar, India set in 7 July 1981.

Cast

Production

Development

Since 2003, Dhoni’s life has been chronicled in the media. Nobody knows what happened to him before that; before he made it to the Indian cricket team. So, it was relatively easy to revisit that life. That’s where the story for the film came from.

— Director Neeraj Pandey[16]

Development of a Dhoni biopic began after the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final and the discussion about the idea went on over the following years but however remained dormant. Then after a few years, Dhoni was at an airport when a kid approached him and asked him a question on motivation. Dhoni sat down with the young boy and spent 5 minutes answering the kid's question. His manager, Arun Pandey, asked why he spent that much time with the kid and Dhoni replied how his answer was pivotal in benefiting and motivating him. This incident then prompted Pandey to make a movie about him saying [to Dhoni] that his story has the power to motivate millions of kids like him.[17] After the idea coalesced, Pandey began to convince Dhoni himself in order to adapt his life into a full-length feature film.[17] When he was first approached on the idea of the adaptation, he became a little worried and questioned the need for it. But after being convinced by his peers, all he said was, "Don't misrepresent me. Show me as I am."[17][18] It took Dhoni two years to finally agree the decision.[17]

Writing

Pandey was attracted to Dhoni's story not because of his successful cricket career saying that "it's foolish to chase MS Dhoni's life story only because it's about cricket," but rather to instances and factors that made him the person he is today.[19] Dhoni wasn't involved in writing the script. Pandey recruited a team of reseachers who collated data and background informations while the director was busy directing Baby (2015).[19] The filmmakers decided that they would only green lit the film once they find a convincing story to tell after the research.[20] Pandey met with Dhoni numerous times for a span of eight months despite their professional gaps and by the eighth month of their meetings in 2014, the main arc of the story began to form. His first meeting took place in Delhi during a cricket match. During their sparodic meetings, Pandey chose not to record and tap their conversations which prompted Dhoni to open up more.[19][20]

Arun Pandey says 98% of the content in the film is reality. The team undertook two years of research on the various incidents and how they took place. Pandey says "such authenticity would be hard to find even in Hollywood."[17] Pandey revealed several prominent aspects of Dhoni's life that were hidden before that he initially disdained cricket and had predilection for football instead, his signature "helicopter shot" was taught to him his friend Santosh Lal, he likes women who don't recognise him, he and Yuvraj Singh had close ties even before their respective stardom and it was he who ousted Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid from the team since he wanted to build a young team for the 2011 World Cup with better fielders and he wasn't too happy with the 'fitness' levels of the aformentioned cricketers.[21]

Pandey decided to end the film with the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final since he felt "the arc of the story had a natural high at the 2011 World Cup win." He knew that they were chronicling almost 30 years of a sportsman's life "in a highly compressed manner" and said that had he extended the script to his sudden retirement during an ongoing series, the run time of the film would shoot up to six hours.[19]

Pre-production

Neeraj Pandey was in the midst of shooting Baby (2015) when Arun Pandey, the manager of Dhoni, offered him an opportunity of making a biopic based on Mahendra Singh Dhoni. However, Pandey was skeptical and didn't wish to tackle such subject until he met Dhoni himself. It was only after meeting Dhoni personally – during the second schedule of Baby – that he was convinced to helm the film. Although to him, he treated the project not as a biopic, but more as an inspiring story.[22][19] Pandey admits that he is not a fan of Dhoni and doesn't feel guilty about it. But he does have a predilection for cricket and other renounced cricketers like AB de Villiers and Sachin Tendulkar. He explained how not being a fan helped him direct the movie impartially, "I think if you are fan, as a director it would be difficult to be objective and impartial. A fan would only see positives. Even negatives will look like positives for him. So not being a fan helped me direct the movie impartially."[22] It is the director's first biopic film.[19]

M.S. Dhoni became a consultant during the film's production.

Dhoni was a huge participant in the film's creativity. Every question that came to the director or any member of the team working on the script was directly answered by him. He would clear any doubts of the director and Rajput.[17] However, he did not want the film to serve as a whitewash of his life, "One thing I told (Neeraj) Pandey is that this movie should not be to glorify me. It's about the journey of a professional sportsperson and that's what it should depict."[18]

Casting

Sushant Singh Rajput (pictured) portrayed Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the film.

Director Pandey, who have not seen any of Sushant Singh Rajput's film, followed his intuition when it came to casting him. Rajput was always his first choice given how the two hails from the same parts of India, which was easy for him to get the dialect right and the fact he has a predilection for sports like Dhoni.[22] When he met Rajput and chatted with him for 15 minutes, he knew that the accent, the setting and the milieu they needed to capture would not be a problem.[16][19] Rajput admits that he is a fan of Dhoni, and describes himself as an "ardent" cricket fan.[23] Rajput's sister is a professional cricketer who once made it to the women's national team, while he himself wasn't very good at the sport no matter how hard he tried, even failing him to get selected for the school team.[16][24] He cites Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013) as one of his favourite sports-centred movies ever released in the Bollywood industry as well as the 2013 Hollywood film, Rush.[25]

Kiran More (pictured) trained Rajput how to play cricket for four months.

The challenge in portraying Dhoni in the biopic was twofold for Rajput; he had to first act like a cricketer, and then like Dhoni.[25] He did not find portraying the character as tough due to fan's robust expectations but found it difficult to get his mannerisms right. He said that he did not pretend to be Dhoni, but actually felt like the cricketer while essaying the title role. In order to prepare for his role, he had to go through an exhaustive prolonged training for a period of 18 months before shooting began and watched his videos for hours, to a point that he subconsciously started picking up some of his traits.[26][16][17] For instance, in order to grasp Dhoni's trademark "Helicopter shot," the team would carefully analyse it and fix the bowling machine into one spot and then play the same shot at least 200, 300 times a day for a week to a point that it came naturally to him.[23] He also met Dhoni thrice before filming commenced.[25] Former wicketkeeper Kiran More personally coached Rajput for thirteen months, including wicked-keeping and battling before he started learning Dhoni's body language. [25][27] He practiced for four hours, starting at 6:00 every morning.[17] Rajput described More as a "tough taskmaster," who treated him like a professional cricketer rather than an actor.[28] Dhoni's batting style was scientifically analysed, learnt and practised and an analyst was called on board for this. Training sessions were recorded and compared with the cricketer's real game. It took a further six months for Rajput to feel confident that he looked and played like Dhoni.[24][25]

After months of training, Rajput had internalised Dhoni's every move. Since he spent so much time practising and being him, he never had to do it consciously while filming and claimed to have never looked at the monitor while shooting, "Later, when I was dubbing, I saw myself and was impressed."[25] In addition to his training, Rajput also had to alter his voice like that of a 15 year old teenager to that of a 30 year old man. Throughout the filming process, Rajput's weight gain and loss stretched to around 16 kg. At some point, he either lost weight to look like a teen, or gained some to play a 30-year-old team captain.[25] He said his mantra for portraying the role was "total immersion."[28]

Disha Patani plays Dhoni's ex-girlfriend, Priyanka Jha in the film and she was cast in the beginning of January 2016.[29] For her role, Patani had to learn Asuri, an endangered tribal dialect from Jharkhand in which Priyanka and Dhoni used to converse in. The filmmakers felt it was necessary to convey this and decision to use the dialect was finalised in the latter stages of production. Hence, Patani had to learn the language in very quick time.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). It is Patani's Bollywood debut performance.[30]

Principal photography

The opening and ending scene was shot at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Maharashtra where the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final was held.
Kharagpur Junction railway station, one of the real-life location used in the film where Dhoni worked as a former conductor.

The film was shot in authentic and real-life locations where Dhoni spent much of his childhood and teenage years.[31][3][17] In an effort to stay true to the crux of the biopic, Neeraj also shot scenes from the movie in Dhoni's real home in Ranchi, Jharkhand where his parents and brother Narendra currently live. Shooting also took place at Kharagpur railway station where Dhoni once worked as a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE), his old school and at the quarter number 142 of Mecon Limited he shared with his four roommates while studying egineering. The filmmakers were also shown his former social hangout as well as introduced to the food he liked eating whilst growing up.[31][14] Dhoni's real school teacher was cast in the film.[32]

Filming also took place in Aurangabad.[33]

Rajput learned Dhoni's signature 'helicopter' shot by the end of the first day, but suffered hairline fracture and had to leave for two weeks.[26]

Post-production

A number of visual effects had to be used in many instances on the film in order to authentically recreate the various time periods of Dhoni's life and also to help transition Rajput between the various ages of Dhoni that the actor was portraying from the age of 15 to 30.[25][34] The main effects studio was Digital Intermediate (DI).[34] Niraj Sanghai, Vice President, Film Sales (India) Prime Focus, said in a statement, "The film is rooted in real-world events, so all our efforts were focused on creating visuals that complement the storyline and the creative vision of the director whilst simultaneously creating credibility and authenticity."[34]

One of the main challenges for the Prime Focus team was recreating footage of Dhoni playing for the Indian cricket team in milestone matches, seamlessly inserting actor Rajput into the scenes to ensure the continuity of the narrative.[34] Moreover, the team also needed to find ways to convincingly support the maturing of Dhoni from a school boy to an Indian cricket captain.[34] The technique used in creating a younger Dhoni was also used in Captain America: The First Avenger to create a younger version of character Steve Rogers.[34]

Soundtrack

Untitled

Amaal Mallik composed the soundtrack for M.S. Dhoni.[35] Rochak Kohli composed one song as a guest composer. T-Series acquired the music rights for the film. The 8 song album features the voices of singers Armaan Malik, Arijit Singh, Siddharth Basrur, Rochak Kohli and Palak Muchhal; it was released in three different language versions: Tamil, Telugu & Marathi. Tamil lyrics were penned by P. Vijay, Telugu by Chaitanya Prasad & Marathi by Guru Thakur.[36]

All lyrics are written by Manoj Muntashir

M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story (Original Motion Picture Hindi Soundtracks)[37]
No.TitleMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Besabriyaan"Amaal MallikArmaan Malik4:15
2."Kaun Tujhe"Amaal MallikPalak Muchhal4:01
3."Jab Tak"Amaal MallikArmaan Malik2:54
4."Phir Kabhi"Amaal MallikArijit Singh4:47
5."Parwah Nahin"Amaal MallikSiddharth Basrur4:02
6."Jab Tak (Redux)"Amaal MallikArmaan Malik3:38
7."Padhoge Likhoge"Amaal MallikAnanya Nanda & Adithyan A Prithviraj3:07
8."Har Gully Mein Dhoni Hai"Rochak KohliRochak Kohli4:04
Total length:30:48

All lyrics are written by P. Vijay

M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story (Original Motion Picture Tamil Soundtracks)[38]
No.TitleMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Pouraadalaam"Amaal MallikArmaan Malik4:16
2."Unnal Unnal Un Ninaival"Amaal MallikPalak Muchhal4:03
3."Konjam (Version 1)"Amaal MallikArmaan Malik2:53
4."Pougalaam"Amaal MallikSreerama Chandra4:44
5."Bayama Enna"Amaal MallikSiddharth Basrur4:02
6."Konjam (Version 2)"Amaal MallikArmaan Malik3:38
7."Padichu Kizhichu"Amaal MallikAparnaa Bhaagwat & Adithyan A Prithviraj3:07
8."Ulagam Engum Dhoni Yee"Rochak KohliS. P. B. Charan4:04
Total length:30:50

All lyrics are written by Guru Thakur; all music is composed by Amaal Mallik

M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story (Original Motion Picture Marathi Soundtracks)[39]
No.TitleMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Ghe Dhyas Ha"Amaal MallikSangeet Haldipur4:15
2."Shravasatun Tu Darvalta"Amaal MallikPalak Muchhal4:03
3."Ashich Thaamb Na Jara-1"Amaal MallikSangeet Haldipur2:54
4."Dhundicha Kshan Ha Ola"Amaal MallikSreerama Chandra4:47
5."Parwah Nahi"Amaal MallikSiddharth Basrur4:02
6."Ashich Thaamb Na Jara-2"Amaal MallikSangeet Haldipur3:40
7."Hoshil Nawab"Amaal MallikAparnaa Bhaagwat, Adhityaan A Prithviraj3:08
Total length:26:47

All lyrics are written by Chaitanya Prasad; all music is composed by Amaal Mallik

M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story (Original Motion Picture Telugu Soundtracks)[40]
No.TitleMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Le Padha Padhaa"Amaal MallikArmaan Mallik4:15
2."Ninnevarinka Premisthaaru"Amaal MallikPalak Muchhal4:03
3."Nuvve Pranayaagni Lo"Amaal MallikArmaan Mallik2:54
4."Mari Maree"Amaal MallikSreerama Chandra4:47
5."Pharwaaledhu"Amaal MallikSiddharth Basrur4:02
6."Ninne Tholi Prema Lo 2"Amaal MallikArmaan Mallik3:40
7."Chadhivithe Jagathike"Amaal MallikAparnaa Bhaagwat, Adhityaan A Prithviraj3:08
Total length:26:47

Release

M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story received the widest release for a Bollywood film receiving a day-and-date release both in India and internationally in a total of 61 territories across approximately 4,500 screens worldwide on the week ending October 2 and was widely anticipated by fans of the cricketer.[18][41] The studio was confident that the film would resonate strongly in its domestic market as well as internationally. Fox Star Studios CEO, Vijay Singh, told Forbes magazine that Dhoni "is truly a role model for every Indian and cricket lover across the globe" and that the film is "a human story that will inspire audiences across the world."[18]

However, the film is not being released in Pakistan after the local distributor opted not to submit a print to the Central Board of Film Censors following Indian Motion Picture Producer Association's (IMPPA) ban and threats made by India's nationalist party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to Pakistani artists, following the 2016 Uri attack in which 23 Indian soldiers were killed and 30 others wounded in an army base in Kashmir, for which India blamed Pakistan for the terrorist attack.[30][42] Sabina Islam, media and marketing manager of the distributor IMGC Global Entertainment in Pakistan told local media, "We wouldn't want to release anything that can aggravate the current situation of the two countries. Dhoni is India's hero so it's risky."[30] The film was also not released in Punjabi and Marathi languages. This was because Fox had wanted to released the film day-and-date but a dubbed version in the two aforementioned languages could not be produced at that time.[41]

Even though attempt was made later to dub and released the film in Marathi language in the state of Maharashtra,[43] this was however not possible. This was because Amey Khopkar, chief of Chitrapat Karmachari Sena, the film affairs wing of regional political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena told the filmmakers that releasing the film in the language would cause unfair competition for regional movies by giving rise to a scenario where more filmmakers will release Hindi films dubbed in Marathi, prompting Pandey to scrapt the plan.[44][45]

The film was declared tax-free in Uttar Pradesh by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav a day after its release,[46][47] and in Dhoni's home state, Jharkhand, a few days later.[48]

Box office performance

According to Daily News and Analysis, the film carries a production budget of anywhere between ₹90–100 crore (US$13.5–15 million). Including marketing costs, which is around ₹15 crore (US$2.2 million), the total expenditure for the film is estimated to be around ₹115 crore (US$17.2 million),[4] while others have pegged around ₹104 crore (US$15.6 million).[49] The film recouped around ₹90 crore (US$13.5 million) even before it's release via multiple platforms and ancillary; ₹55 crore (US$8.2 million) from satellite rights; ₹20 crore (US$3 million) from endorsement brands; ₹10 crore (US$1.5 million) for overseas distribution rights; and ₹5 crore (US$750,920) for music rights.[50]

India

Preceded by Dhoni's stardom, anticipation for M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story was high.[51] In India, the film was released in the wake of lucrative films like Rustom and Pink which was preceeded by three months of box office slump.[18] Before the film's release, pre-release trackings showed that film was on pace to have a solid debut.[30] It's trailer alone received 23 million views prior to its opening.[42] The film was projected to earn ₹17–18 crore (US$2.5–2.7 million) on its opening day.[30] It opened Friday, September 30, across approximately 3,500 screens and delivered a strong collection of ₹21.3 crore (US$3.2 million) on its opening day,[52] occupying 45–50% of the total marketplace. That's the biggest opener of Sushant's career, nearly three times that of Shuddh Desi Romance, and the third best this year behind Sultan and Fan.[30] Buoyed by excellent reviews, the film earned a total of ₹66 crore (US$9.3 million) net and ₹94.6 crore (US$14.26 million) gross in its opening weekend,[52] the second biggest opening for a Hindi release this year behind Sultan, the third biggest for Fox Star and a personal best in the career of Sushant, eclipsing the lifetime earnings of his three previous films Kai Po Che!, Shuddh Desi Romance and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy.[53][42]

Wide praise from Indian critics as well as positive word of mouth from cinemagoers helped spark interest in the Dhoni biopic.[53][44] The debut was all the more remarkable given how the cast does not include any well-known or veteran actors but rather relied purely on the subject matter.[42] Trade analysts, Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama noted the bigger-than-expected opening demolishes several myths about the Bollywood industry, such as sports films doesn't work globally, only A-list star can draw massive audiences, films devoid of action or lacking popular songs can never be lucrative and a running of three hours is avoided by patrons.[53] Komal Nahta commented on the film's performance saying, "It will fly high and fast – much like the ball flies when M.S. Dhoni hits it for a six on the cricket field. Not just in the first week, the film's collections in the second week will also be outstanding."[53]

Following its sturdy weekend debut the film witnessed a sharp fall on Monday earning ₹8.51 crore ($1.2 million) and ₹7.5 crore (US$112,700) on Tuesday.[54] Koimoi.com said "in the times when even the weekend collections of some of the much publicized films have failed to score such numbers, it is remarkable that the film is generating such collections during the weekdays."[54] It was declared a "hit" after its opening weekend and is expected to hit the "super hit" zone by its second weekend.[55]

After its robust opening, the film was projected to become the highest-grossing biopic in Bollywood.[56] It is currently the sixth highest-grossing film of 2016 in India.[57]

International

Internationally, the film was released in 60 territories across 1,000 screens in conjuncture with its Indian premiere. According to Vijay Singh, that marks the biggest-ever release for a Hindi film in Tamil and Telugu and one of the widest for any Indian film internationally.[18] It was released in key markets including the United States and Canada and the U.K. and in the other regular Bollywood diaspora markets in South East Asia, Africa and Europe. Through a chain of distributors the film also went out in non-regular Bollywood territories such as Japan, Spain, France, Hungary, Poland, the Philippines and the West Indies.[18]

Internationally, Dhoni made an estimated ₹21.92 crore ($3.3 million) in its opening weekend from 60 territories.[58] It had stellar debuts in many markets, including $1.1 million in the U.S., $995,000 in the Middle East, $263,000 in the U.K. where it ranked at No. 9, and $194,000 in Australia for tenth spot.[53] Most notably, the film received a limited release in the U.S. and Canada across 256 theaters and earned $1,108,650 at an average of $4,331 per theater, debuting at number 14 at the box office,[59][60] becoming the third Bollywood film of 2016 to debut above $1 million, following Sultan and Fan.[42]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
CNN-News18[61]
Economic Times[62]
The Guardian[63]
India Today[64]
The HinduPositive[65]
Hindustan Times[66]
The Indian Express[67]
Rediff.com[68]
NDTV[69]
Times of India[70]
Bangalore Mirror[71]
Zee News[72]
Sushant Singh Rajput's performance was widely praised by critics and his portrayal of the cricketer was applauded even before the film's release.[28]

The film recived mainly positive reviews from critics who praised Neeraj Pandey's direction and the performance of Sushant Rajput as Dhoni, but received criticism for the lack of chemistry between the two leads, Pandey’s screenplay which ignored several controversies attached to Dhoni's career and for whitewashing the cricketer.[30][53][73][14][74]

The film was notable for omitting certain aspects of Dhoni's life and in the realm of cricket that were deemed pivotal or noteworthy such as the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 press conference, where Dhoni brought the entire team and read out a statement of unity, the 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing and betting case and the alleged rift with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. The film also does not put foward Dhoni's take on the two year ban imposed on Chennai Super Kings from playing in the Twenty20 which he captained at that time, which ultimately led to Supreme Court to ask N. Srinivasan to step aside as BCCI  President. Morever, the film also doesn't provide any explanation to Dhoni's purchase (and eventual sale) of the 15% stake in the player management firm Rhiti Sports, or why he was named the vice-president of India Cements.[75][14] While the film featured his sister Jayanti, there was no mention about his real life elder brother, Narendra Singh Dhoni, who is a politician.[76]

The Hindu said, "of course such sanitisation makes the film lose out on interesting layers and complexity, but, curiously, the focused, unwavering eulogising of Dhoni also helps it get an unmistakeable emotional acuity."[14] In a more positive take, Andy Bull of The Guardian said that not every aspect of Dhoni’s life could be included in the 3 hour 10 minutes biopic. He quoted John Briley's famous line of the script he wrote for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi: "No man's life can be encompassed in one telling. There is no way to give each year its allotted weight, to include each event, each person who helped to shape a lifetime."[77]

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor gave a positive of the film and praising the performance of Rajput in particular.[48] Dhoni's wife, Sakshi was so blown away by Kiara Advani's performance (who portrayed Sakshi in the film) that she immediately called her up and praised her for her performance.[78] Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif gave a warm reception of film.[79]

The film garnered unenthusiastic response from international critics. Rachel Saltz of The New York Times gave a negative review of the film saying that one doesn’t have to understand cricket to enjoy a good cricket movie like Lagaan (2001), but one have be a cricket fan, and an indulgent one for M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. She found the term "hagiographic" unfit for the film and labelled the film as "long and languid." She concluded saying "I learned more about Mr. Dhoni — his enigmatic character and what marked him as a great captain — by reading about him after watching this movie than I did during three long hours."[80]

References

  1. ^ MS Dhoni biopic release date pushed to September 30. The Indian Express (21 June 2016). Retrieved on 2016-09-20.
  2. ^ M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story 2016 Movie News, Wallpapers, Songs & Videos. Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved on 20 September 2016.
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  27. ^ "'MS Dhoni' a tale of hard work and success: Sushant". The Hindu. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
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  29. ^ TNN (5 January 2016). "Disha Patani to play MS Dhoni's ex-girlfriend Sonil Dedhia". Times of India. Retrieved 6 October 2016. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 46 (help)
  30. ^ a b c d e f g Don Groves (29 September 2016). "Biopic Of Indian Cricket Hero M. S. Dhoni Set To Score Strongly". Forbes. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  31. ^ a b (Press Releases) (8 September 2016). "M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story shot in authentic locations". BollySpice. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  32. ^ ILT Staff Reporter (7 September 2016). "MS Dhoni's real life teacher is part of the film 'MS Dhoni,The Untold Story'". Live India. Retrieved 5 October 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  33. ^ Prachita Pandey (8 September 2016). "'Jab Tak' song from 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story' explores how love blossmed between Dhoni and wife Sakshi". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
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  35. ^ "Every Love Song Today Sounds Like 'Aashiqui 2': Amaal Mallik". Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  36. ^ M.S.Dhoni – The Untold Story (Marathi). T-Series. Retrieved on 20 September 2016.
  37. ^ M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story, M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story songs, Hindi Album M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story 2016. Saavn.com Hindi Songs Online. Saavn.com (5 September 2016). Retrieved on 2016-09-20.
  38. ^ M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story, M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story songs, Tamil Album M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story 2016. Saavn.com Tamil Songs Online. Saavn.com (13 September 2016). Retrieved on 2016-09-20.
  39. ^ M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story, M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story songs, Marathi Album M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story 2016. Saavn.com Marathi Songs Online. Saavn.com (14 September 2016). Retrieved on 2016-09-20.
  40. ^ M.S.Dhoni Jukebox || M.S.Dhoni Songs – Telugu || Sushant Singh Rajput, Kiara Advani || Telugu Songs. YouTube (13 September 2016). Retrieved on 2016-09-20.
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  43. ^ TNN (18 August 2016). "'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story' to get a Marathi release". Times of India. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  44. ^ a b Suparno Sarkar (5 October 2016). "This is why MS Dhoni-The Untold Story will not be released in Marathi". International Business Times. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
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  46. ^ IANS (2 October 2016). "Biopic on Dhoni made tax free in UP". Times of India. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  47. ^ IANS (2 October 2016). "'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story' gets tax-free release in Uttar Pradesh". Economic Times. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
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