M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story

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

MS DHONI : THE UNTOLD STORY! AN INDISPUTABLE EFFORT BY SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT

From the beginning of the movie every one must have understood that their hearts gonna stop for a few moments! And they have not been wrong. I'm not highlighting the plot in detail as I'm pretty much interested not to unfold the story line as many of you will go to watch it.

Let me talk about the best parts. First of all, Sushant's tremendous acting and dedication deserve a big thumbs up. Next Anupam Kher and Rajesh Sharma rightly have adjusted themselves to their spots. Herry Tangri (Yuvi) excellently has scaled himself with his character. Kiara Advani (Sakshi), Disha Patani(Priyanka) have given their best too. Well, now I must talk about the cinematography, here Santosh Thundiyil has done a brilliant job. Especially Dhoni's train capturing scene leaving his job and Dhoni's coming out of the dressing room scene during the World Cup (2011) Final help a lot to excel this film. Undoubtedly fantastic cinematography it has. As a director Neeraj Pandey is of course successful but somewhere it has lacked a bit of his special touch. Though it doesn't matter because you will not find a single moment that can make you bore. The story has real gravity and it successfully has followed the tag line i.e "The man you know... The journey you don't". Truly it has focused on his journey- his struggle, ups and downs etc. The dialogues are very inspiring and heart-touching at many places. It is around 190mins' movie. You may think it's quite long but trust me after watching it you'll think if it could be of 5 hours that would have been perfect.... Even the Dhoni-haters can't deny that.. Actually there's so much to tell about. Anyway, let's come to the background sound... Truly effective though at some points it could have been better. Except that the editing has been done quite well but truly it's the place where it has lacked a bit. At few points it seems to be less glued... sudden turn of the movements and emotions is visible. And another important part is the story line which is of course very good but few interesting points it has actually missed. It would have been much more better if there's a bit more details about few facts like Wicket Keeping, Yuvi, Dressing Room situation after the WC2011 Final. But still it's fine as I have said earlier that it has focused more on Dhoni as a man.. especially his journey... Otherwise it is actually excellent... Or better to say super-excellent! And oh yes casting is just amazing.

So finally I would like to conclude like this. If you wish to watch it don't wait for the review just go for it. One thing I can assure you that you will not regret for a moment. But you may regret if you don't watch it or watch it by downloading from internet. If possible for you to spend some money please try that to give your respect to the hard works done by the cast and crew. I don't feel like giving marks to this movie as it may look disrespecting but taking it as a work of art I'm giving 9/10. Please don't listen to someone else if you feel like going then go...!!

P.S - I respect you, Sushant Singh Rajput... Your career is going to get a big hike after this. 'Excellent' is just a word for you.

Caution - You may find yourself in out-of-air-condition while the last scene happens, in spite of knowing the upcoming. ;) :)

N.B- If a second part of it comes out, I'll not be surprised. There are lot more facts deserve to get unfolded.

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!!

It is said that leaders are not created rather they are born and such is the case with M.S.Dhoni. This real life based movie truly does justice to the hard work and commitment of Indian Cricket Captain and World Cup Winner M.S Dhoni. Neeraj Pandey has done a fabulous job to put up all the pieces in the desired sequence to create this masterpiece. Sushant Singh Rajput yet again impresses with his on screen performance and persona as everything about him is just perfect from head to toe in the movie. All the features starting from story, dialogues, cinematography, acting, music till direction is well knitted to form an impressive flick. However, the highlight remains Sushant Singh Rajput with his all the talent, skill and perfection doing full justice to the living legend of Indian cricket. It is quite visible that he has done a good research on Dhoni including his hair style, shyness, walking and famous "Helicopter Shot". The film outlines the struggle of M.S Dhoni from a railway ticket collector to the Captain of a World Champion team. It also highlights the issues pertaining to the changes made by him for transforming Indian Cricket team to a World Class Unit. The trend of making movies on real life events is gaining a lot of momentum in Bollywood and this one is the fresh addition to the list and probably the top of the line effort. M.S. Dhoni is already a star, living legend and a role model for cricketers all over the world and this film will surely add to his existing honor and prestige. A must watch film for those who believe in hard work, common man, fair play and M.S Dhoni!!!!