M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story

"Absolutely magnificent, Dhoni,finishes off in-style, A magnificent stroke into the crowd! India lift the world cup, After 28 years , The party started in the dressing room. and, Its an Indian captain who's been absolutely magnificent in the night of the final." Pretty much one of the best moments of the movie. Massive goosebumps. Ms Dhoni The Untold Story - Is a fantastically made movie which is like two sides of the same coin. The first half which shows why Neeraj Pandey is one of the best directors in the country. While the second half shows why Neeraj Pandey should never make a love story. The movie's main strength is clearly Sushant Singh Rajput who shines in every scene. He has captured the essence of the calm and composed Dhoni and portrayed it brilliantly. The first of the movie is stunning, brilliantly acted, poor special effects with some great dialogues and excellent direction by Neeraj Pandey. The cricketing aspect of Dhoni is so well done. It shows that there is always a team behind a person who is successful. An ode to friendship, struggles, responsibility, compromise and facing life regardless of the unexpected turns and twists. I was in awe how well connected the movie was. Moving from one point to another so effortlessly. Neeraj Pandey's best hour in cinema. The second half starts of well but the two love stories really bring down the movie. The Actresses are likable and all. WTF Neeraj Pandey but the movie moved at a steady pace nevertheless. It was like living the past. The famous India-Pakistan series where Dhoni shines. A lot of moments. It was like a Pleasant flashback. The performances in the movie are brilliant. Sushant Singh Rajput as Dhoni. What a performance! Not his best, I feel Kai Po Che was better. He was seamless, cool, composed, confident. Just like MSD. He breaks down in one scene. Which was brilliant. The Supporting Star Cast is brilliant.Every Actor in the supporting role. FANTASTIC!!! They are a lot of them. Everyone was brilliant. The actresses were strictly average. The music was decent. The movie is a solid 8-8.5/10. The love angles and the bad special effects in the first half are the only things which could have been improved. You'll love it if you loved cricket. You'll like it if you love good cinema.

M.S. Dhoni had a burden of expectations on it - not just because it is based on India's most beloved captain but also it had Neeraj Pandey as Director. The movie is well made but runs into too much of unnecessary stuff, especially in the second half. It is pretty much left on its own in the later part. Sushant Singh Rajput is bloody impressive with his uncanny resemblance to MSD, not just in terms of looks but also the expressions.

Story (7/10): The movie focused really well on the life of MSD before he became a household name. It focused a lot on the challenges, small town boys had been facing to get an entry into Indian cricket team about 10 years back when metro boys, especially Delhi and Mumbai, had a great influence on the team composition. What I also loved was the portrayal of Dhoni's work ethic - be it the scene of Yuvraj Singh or the booze. The first half of the story shows the tremendous amount of research done on the build up of MSD and the people involved in getting him into the Indian cricket team. Unfortunately, the story is left orphaned once it crosses that chapter. Too much focus on his love life was not just unnecessary but also slowed down the movie tremendously. I would have loved to see some focus on what exactly made him CAPTAIN COOL and at least some bits of behind the scenes portrayal of what happened in the dressing room in the 2011 WC Final. But the story just skips through that, which is a big let down.

Acting (10/10): Sushant Singh Rajput did a great job. He had a challenging role and his hard work showed in the way he projected MSD, in terms of looks as well as expressions. This would definitely go in as one of his best performances, arguably better than Byomkesh Bakshi. What I loved was the effort and the screen presence by the supporting cast - especially MSD's friend circle and also his school coach, played by Rajesh Sharma. The last time I saw such a level of presence by supporting cast was, perhaps, in Tanu Weds Manu series.

Direction (6/10): This was definitely below par performance of Neeraj Pandey, considering his reputation. While a lot of research and meticulousness went into the first half of the movie, it was equally misdirected and vague in the second half. The story pretty much ended at the point when MSD makes it into the Indian cricket team. I felt Neeraj Pandey tends to play safe and is compelled to add romance element irrespective of the movie genre, just like he did in Baby and Special 26 where, again, it wasn't required at all. And this is what takes down this movie. While three hours is pretty much expected in biopic movies, he didn't utilize it to the best.

Overall (7/10): It lives up to its tagline - The Untold Story - with some great research on the life of MSD in his early years but the movie just becomes directionless in the second half. But still, a good movie to watch, at least half of it.

You go inside the theater as a Dhoni fan but you come out as Sushant's fan. He has really worked hard for this film, you can see it in the movie. At times you forget that you are watching Sushant and not actually Dhoni. He portrays everything so well including that helicopter shot!!

Sushant's acting is uncomparable. His dedication and hard work pays off on the screen.

After 3 films with Akshya Kumar as lead, Neeraj Pandey switched over to Sushant Singh Rajput and made this movie based on the life of Indian Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

First of all, to make a biopic is not an easy job. As what the maker finds interesting, the person on which the biopic is happening may not! He wants something to show, but the maker is not convince with that. These are some basic differences. And after all this, a movie should be a true entertainer. So, the toughest part for the maker is to decide what to show & how to show. Because the maker has to give pure justice to the person's life without hurting his fans and followers.

Neeraj starts the film with the 2011 world cup final. And when Dhoni enters in the ground, Neeraj switches of to the flashback. From this point, the film picks up the speed. From the birth of Dhoni, to his schooling, to his relationship with his sister, to his caring mother & strict father, to his friendships, to his matches, to his practice, to his breakdown where he gets to know that he can't play Dulip Trophy, to his disregarding by selectors, to his job as a TC, to his hard work, to his self realization and getting into the train. Every single scene is running like a fast paced balling delivery. The 50% of the film is complete and than you realize that one hour and thirty minutes are over.

In post interval, love story starts with Ind-Pak series. Some beautiful tracks and little lighter moments are there in love segments. But as compare to the first half, this is not that much in speed. But you don't feel like boring. And than Sakshi's entry, Dhoni's marriage, and back to the first scene and completes the circle with winning six in the final of 2011 world cup.

Lyrics by Manoj Muntshir and Music by Amaal Malik are fantastic. Besabriyaan is my favorite along with the soulful track Kaun Tujhe. The entire album suits to the film. We have noticed in Neeraj's movie, that one background tune which has been constantly played throughout the film. In this movie too, one outstanding tune is there.

Anupam Kher, Kumud Mishra, Rajesh & Bhumika are the backbone supporter of this film. Disha Patani looks pretty. Kaira Advani is suitable as Sakshi. Overall a good team in supporter.

But the man, Sushant Singh Rajput is a true actor. After delivering a classic performance in last year's Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, he shines out this time too. As a lead, his dedication towards becoming Dhoni is fantastic. From gaining the weight as Dhoni to setting a hairstyle like him, he just delivered his best. His 150 days of cricket training clearly speaks out loud when he strikes the ball with a helicopter shot. He is a real actor of today's generation.

Now, what to say about Neeraj! I love all his films. I've seen Baby and Special 26 more than 20 times. And I like this one too. So, whenever I'll get chance, will surely watch this again and again.

On the whole, after collecting 20cr on the first day, the movie will fly high at box office. Without any promotions on TV, without any major star casts, this film is doing well, and there are two reasons- Dhoni and Neeraj Pandey. Public is smart and they know on whom they can trust. So, just go and see the film. A pure entertainer of this year. Get inspiration from Dhoni's life and his hard-work.

And one more request, please cheer up the hall. As I've seen some snapchat videos where the hall is silent even on the winning stroke. I'm lucky that the hall where I went was so enthusiastic to see this film, that every single stoke of Dhoni or even Gambhir or Yuvraj got applause. Some glimpse of Sachin, Sehwag or any other cricketer also got appreciation by the audience. In my life, I've heard cheers on a six or four in the cinema-hall rather than a stadium. These things made my day. Best movie experience of this year so far.

By far, my most favorite biopic film is Bhag Milkha Bhag. And after that, I guess this film.