Captain Cool : Reel or Real??

Between my shoots and all the chaos in my house I managed to squeeze in time for the much-awaited film that released this Friday- M.S Dhoni- the untold story. As the tagline suggests, it’s not just about his successes but also about his failures and obstacles in life. It comes from the director, Neeraj Pandey who has directed films like A Wednesday, Special 26 and also managed to produced Rustom, which released this year in August.

The moment.

The film obviously opens with our hero Sushant Singh Rajput who plays the role of Dhoni in the film. We see him heading to the pitch and the secene cuts to the year 1981 in Ranchi when he was born. Anupam Kher plays the role of Paan Singh Dhoni; his father, who like every other father has high expectations from his son. Mother and his sister back him for his love for sports and his playful approach to life.

Mahi with his sister in the film.

As a kid he was passionate about sports like Football and Badminton but Cricket was not his scene until cricket coach (Rajesh Sharma) of his school notices his wicket keeping talent and makes sure he joins the team. Like every other boy Mahi loves batting and always is looking for a chance to show his batting skills. His struggle, willpower and dedication towards his sport through the years is well showcased through the song –Besabriyaan (The only song I like in the film!)

With his support of family and a bunch of dependable friends he tries really hard to be noticed but fails every time and rises up with further dedication. In between this entire struggle he manages to get himself a secured government job of a Ticket Collector in Kharakpur through Sports Quota but with all the monotony of running around the platforms, cricket practices and local matches he realizes he didn’t aim for this compromise in his life which is the turning point in the film. I was ok with the idea of a 3-hour movie until post interval the random rushes of actresses start coming in very abruptly. 

Debutant Disha Patni was seen a very small role but didn’t leave much of a mark, with just smiling away and then Kiara Advani comes in who plays the role of Mahi’s wife Sakshi in the film. Again not a very strong role, and I guess not an awesome choice as well. 

She only reminded me of Esha Deol in the film. Mahi refuses to make the mistake he made with his first love and decides to propose her for the wedding, they get married, honeymoon and then the worldcup scene, and the movie is over. Second half of the film was abrupt, long and dragging.

The film surely captures some special moments from Mahi’s life and shows how so many people were responsible for his success. Falguni Thakore handles the costumes of the film. Being a biopic costumes played a key role in the film. 

Real Family

Reel Family

From the child hood days of Mahi with his friends and family to being a team captain transition didn’t have to be replicated but had to be relatable which the designer has managed to do well. His early  years wearing ordinary jeans with those tacky leather jackets or local zipper jackets with track pants and those white canvas shoes definitely helped build the character. The slow transition from those local clothes to branded clothes to designer leather and parka jackets and jeans surely reminded me of Dhoni’s Real life moments. She definitely had her research right with all the India jerseys and changes in them through the years.

With Disha Patni

With Kiara Advani

Disha Patni looked like a typical Janpath or Delhi Haat shopper in the film sporting boho silver jewelry, Scarves and Contemporary Indian clothing which was not much of my liking. Kiara  Advani’s wardrobe had a good mix of everything from regular tops and jeans or Kurtas. Almost like a regular girl next door. The most stood out similarity of the costumes in the film was from Mahi’s Wedding scene, its almost identical!

Reel Wedding

Reel Wedding with family and friends.

Real wedding

Real wedding with family and friends.

Kudos to the make up and hair team as well, as a lot of detailing was taken care of. From his a small town boy’s hairstyle to growing his tresses unevenly and getting them straightened and colored after being successful to just a spiky hairstyle, managed to replicate it well. Not just that, his dusky skin before matches to being tanned and chapped skin post tournaments and test matches had good detailing marked and surely gave glimpses of real M.S Dhoni.

All in all a great effort by the cast and crew of the film to tell the story of our much loved Cricketer. I only wished the film wasn’t that long and gave us much more glimpses of his matches and bonding with fellow teammates than more of his love life. But surely worth watching the film if planning to go for a movie this week.

Love,

Cine Closet.