Pandey Plays it Safe and makes It a Told Story

Rating: 7/10 (30 September 2016)

I was quite excited for the film, so much that I didn't wanted to read the reviews and went for the first day show. The reason for the excitement was to see the most celebrated Indian captain, MS Dhoni being played by a talented actor, Sushant Singh Rajput and Neeraj Pandey directing it after Baby. After leaving the Cinema hall, I wasn't bored but I was disappointed. The fact which disappointed me was that Neeraj didn't took any risk The Film covers the life of MS Dhoni from his birth to the day when he lifts the World Cup in 2011. The Teenage-Youth years are well portrayed and is the main strength of the film. Hats off to Neeraj for the details of 90's like Children carrying the rectangular shaped bags, Playing the video games. The locations are real and that's another positive of the film. You travel to the unseen city of Ranchi, visits Dhoni's real school and see the various grounds. Sushant's dedication to be Dhoni, to play like Dhoni, to look like Dhoni is outstanding. Yes, he mastered the popular Helicopter Shot. Another thanks to the Visual Effects team cause they beautifully shelved Sushant's body into a teenage one and to fit his face into Dhoni's Match Footage(Not 100 percent accurate but it's still good) The first Half is good as you see the character grow, the minor details and the help Dhoni gets from his friends, parents and coaches. But when you are really excited to see how Dhoni becomes a successful captain, the victories, the failures and the controversies, the screenplay let's you down. The shift changes to Dhoni love life which is still good but then then it misses what really the viewer want to see.We don't get to see Dhoni becoming the captain, his response to it and how he let a young immature team to win T20 World cup in 2007. You don't really get to know what makes Dhoni, An Amazing Captain. That's why film becomes "a Told Story" rather than untold cause you know almost everything. Also I wanted the answer to how he manages to be cool in tough situations and Why he put himself up in the batting order in the World Cup 11 final but at the end all remained unanswered. Performance's are good from the support cast too as Anupam Kher, Disha patni shines in their roles. So, what to do this weekend? You can still go, its not bad. The film has a heart and 180 minutes didn't let you to sleep. It's better than many biopics coming these days cause of the performance, research and details. But if you're expecting for a film that makes it into your favorite list,it isn't