M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, the 2016 Hindi-language biographical sports drama directed by Neeraj Pandey, took years to reach the screen. Ten years on, the details of its making are worth revisiting. These are the facts fans often miss.
1. The push began after a five-minute airport chat
Development of the biopic began after the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final, but the discussion stayed dormant. Later, Dhoni was at an airport when a child asked him about motivation. He sat with the boy for five minutes, and his manager Arun Pandey asked why he gave that much time. Dhoni replied that his answer was pivotal in benefiting and motivating the boy.
2. Neeraj Pandey was not a Dhoni fan
Neeraj Pandey was in the midst of shooting Baby (2015) when Arun Pandey offered him the biopic. He was sceptical until meeting Dhoni during the second schedule of Baby. Pandey has admitted he is not a fan of Dhoni and does not feel guilty about it. He said a fan would only see positives, so not being a fan helped him direct the movie impartially.
Dhoni asked that the film not glorify him, but show the journey of a professional sportsperson.
3. Akshay Kumar wanted the lead role
Akshay Kumar wanted to play the lead role and wanted Sushant Singh Rajput to play the younger M.S. Dhoni. Rajput was always the director’s first choice because he and Dhoni hail from the same part of India and because Rajput has a predilection for sports like Dhoni. A 15-minute meeting with Rajput convinced Pandey the accent and setting would not be a problem.
4. Sushant Singh Rajput trained for 18 months
Rajput described himself as an ardent
cricket fan, though he was not very good at the sport and failed to make his school team. To play Dhoni, he went through exhaustive training for 18 months before shooting began. He watched Dhoni’s videos for hours until he subconsciously picked up some of his traits.
5. The helicopter shot meant 200-300 reps a day
For Dhoni’s trademark Helicopter shot
, the team analysed it carefully and fixed the bowling machine in one spot. Rajput played the same shot at least 200 to 300 times a day for a week, until it came naturally to him. He met Dhoni three times before filming commenced.
6. Kiran More treated him as a professional cricketer
Former wicketkeeper Kiran More personally coached Rajput for four months, covering wicket-keeping and batting before he started learning Dhoni’s body language. Rajput practised for four hours starting at 6:00 every morning. He called More a tough taskmaster
who treated him like a professional cricketer rather than an actor.
7. A record-wide release, but not everywhere
The film received the widest release for a Bollywood film, opening day-and-date in 61 countries across approximately 4,500 screens worldwide. It was not released in Pakistan following the 2016 Uri attack. Punjabi and Marathi dubbed versions could not be produced in time for the same day-and-date release; later attempts at a Marathi version were scrapped.
8. It became tax-free within days
The film was declared tax-free in Uttar Pradesh by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav a day after its release. Dhoni’s home state of Jharkhand followed a few days later. Maharashtra was declared tax-free on 5 October by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Which of these M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story details surprised you most? Share your favourite fact from the making of the film.
Facts from Wikipedia: M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
