MS Dhoni does not want biopic to glorify him

MS Dhoni has revealed that he wanted his biopic to highlight the struggles of his journey, rather than “glorify” him. He said that he had informed the film’s director, Neeraj Pandey, during the conceptual phase that the film should depict “the journey of a professional sportsperson”.

With ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’ set to release worldwide this Friday, the Indian limited-overs captain was visiting the United States along with his better half, Sakshi Singh Dhoni, and the film’s producer Arun Pandey, in order to promote the film.

Dhoni spoke in New York ahead of the film’s release in a press conference. Usually, Dhoni dons the Indian team’s jersey during press conferences, but this was no usual one. Dressed in a greyish black suit and a silver tie, he spoke about the upcoming film.

"It is a very simple story and that is the beauty of it. One thing I told Neeraj [the director] was, this story should not be to glorify me. It is about the journey of a professional sports person and that's what it should be about."

The movie features Sushant Singh Rajput as Dhoni and describes his journey from a small-town cricket prodigy to a World Cup winning captain.

While Dhoni had made it clear that the film should not emphasise on his success, he said that watching the unedited version of the film for the first time took him down his memory lane. He reminisced about his home and how he played. The film also gave him an opportunity to get others’ perspective about him.

"All those things that had happened became fresh in my memory --- from where I lived, how my school was, where we played. I went blank. It was nice to be in the past for a moment and you get a view of what others think about me. I have never talked to my parents about cricket and it was nice to get a glimpse of what they really thought about me.”

Dhoni was left unperturbed by how the world would perceive the Indian cricketer as a human being and as a sportsman after watching the biopic.

"I was a little worried when initially the concept of the movie came but once we were in, I was not worried about it as I was just narrating my side of the story."

He also spoke about how different incidents on the cricket field had affected his life with the 2007 World Cup loss being “a big turning point” in his life. The world awaits to witness the story of one of India’s most successful captain and we have to wait only until 30 September 2016 when the film releases.