Neeraj Pandey's mediocre is still a good Bollywood flick

Rating: 8/10 (30 November 2016)

Neeraj Pandey's latest sticks exactly to what the film says "the man you know,the journey you don't".Rising above all the achievements and controversial issues of the skipper's life,the film puts forward the untold journey of a boy from a small town & how he went on to become the man we know now.
The film begins with a stylish screenplay depicting the night of 2011 world cup final at the Wahkhede stadium.Then a look back into the early life of MS Dhoni making it a very engaging first half.With greater details, it takes a deeper look into the childhood of the skipper,his teenage achievements as a budding cricketer and the dilemma he faced while choosing his career opportunities.Not to forget the early meet of Dhoni and Yuvraj in the CoochBihar trophy.All that ends in a promising manner until a flawed 2nd half decides to continue.A look into the romantic life of the wicket-keeper batsman was the weakest part of the film. 2 back to back relationships studded with songs made the film loose its momentum.Somehow in the final minutes the film managed to come back into the game and it seemed as if India was lifting the world cup for a second time.
I agree it's flawed but there are still many good parts of the film. An incredible performance from Sushant Singh Rajput.The matches were beautifully portrayed with the director taking care of copying every single piece of action of Dhoni from real to reel.Seemed like Dhoni just came up with a plastic surgery!!Yet the film could have been made shorter and more focused.
Overall a feel good factor works throughout with a whole lot of stories to tell. Cricket fans won't be disappointed!!