Dhoniis a 2012 Indian drama film co-written, directed and produced by Prakash Raj. Simultaneously made in Tamil and Telugu languages, it stars Raj alongside Akash and Radhika Apte.[1] The plot illustrates the conflicting interests of a father and his son; the father wants his son to study MBA, but his son is more interested in sports and wants to become a famous cricketer like Mahendra Singh Dhoni.[2][3] Based on the Marathi film Shikshanachya Aaicha Gho by Mahesh Manjrekar, Dhoni released on 10 February 2012 to positive reviews.
Subramaniam is a lower-middle-class widower with his two kids. He works from dawn to dusk to bring up his son Karthik and his daughter Kaveri. He wishes to give them a good education. He wants to see his son become an MBA graduate. But his son not interested in studies. Fourteen-year-old Karthik wants to become a good cricketer. His inspiration is Mahendra Singh Dhoni and he like him, he wants to be an attacking wicketkeeper-batsman.
While Subramaniam enrolls him in a good school, Karthik fails in most of the subjects. However, his Cricket Coach is in all praise, as Karthik played a major role in winning a Cricket Tournament. Kaveri often spends time with Nalini. Subramaniam learns that Nalini earns her living through prostitution and he strictly orders his daughter to stay away from her. As Karthik is poor in studies, The Principal tells Subramaniam to take his son out.
Immediately Subramaniam takes Karthik away from cricket coaching and makes him to go a series of tuition classes. Karthik fails to cope with his studies even after leaving cricket, which makes Subramaniam lose his patience. Subramaniam beats Karthik and injures his head by mistake for which Subramaniam is arrested. As Karthik goes into a coma, Subramaniam is very upset. He thanks Nalini for helping him pay the hospital bill.
When Subramaniam goes to Karthik's school to collect things from Karthik's locker, he finds many trophies and certificates which makes him argue with the teacher that if his son is not good at studies it does not mean that he is good for nothing. Soon Subramaniam goes for TV shows to debate. As he is working in a government office they ban him from going to the office and cancel the loan for his son's operation. Subramaniam cannot bear it anymore and he goes to a function where the Chief Minister comes, Subramaniam talks with the Chief Minister about all this. The Chief Minister promises Subramaniam that there will be changes and he will get the money for his son's operation. Karthik's operation is successfully done. Karthik plays the final Cricket Tournament in his school he hits the last ball which goes for a six and Karthik wins the Cricket Match. The movie ends as Karthik's Cricket coach and Subramaniam carry him.
Hindi film actress Mugdha Godse was reported to have been signed on to essay the opposite lead role, while Ilaiyaraaja was roped in to do the musical honors.[4] Radhika Apte confirmed that she was playing a pivotal role in the film.[5] Telugu film director Puri Jagannadh's son Aakash was selected to portray Prakash Raj's son.[3]
Dhoni received a positive response from critics. The Times of India rated it 3.5 out of 5, saying, "...thanks to a combination of inspired acting, stimulating writing, a stirring background score and fine camera work, the film rises above the ordinary to make for a compelling cinema experience."[8] Oneindia praised Prakash Raj's "electrifying performance", as well as his directorial abilities.[9] Rohit Ramachandran of Nowrunning.com gave the movie 2.5 stars out of 5, stating, "Instead of reaching the potent climax that the film had set itself up for or giving its characters the opportunity to evolve, Dhoni becomes a social statement we've heard before."[10] Sify wrote "On the whole, don?t miss Dhoni. The beauty of the narration is that the message applies to everyone and it might change your life".[11]
The soundtrack and background score were composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The album was released on 28 January 2012 with a special live performance by Ilaiyaraaja.[14] Behindwoods reported that the music was a "treat for Raja fanatics" and that the emphasis on melody was "there all through".[15]
M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical sports drama film directed and co-written by Neeraj Pandey. It is based on the life of former Test, ODI and T20I captain of the Indian national cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The film stars the late Sushant Singh Rajput as MS Dhoni, along with Disha Patani, Kiara Advani, and Anupam Kher. The film chronicles the life of Dhoni from a young age through a series of life events.
The idea of the biopic was put forward by Dhoni's manager, Arun Pandey, after encountering an incident at an airport after the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final. Development began two years later, with the consent of Dhoni. Neeraj Pandey was later approached to helm the film while he was working on Baby. Pandey recruited a number of people for researching into Dhoni's background and his life events. Dhoni eventually became a consultant on the film.
The film begins in Ranchi, 7 July 1981. At the hospital maternity unit, Paan Singh Dhoni is confused whether he has got a girl or boy. He later names his baby boy Mahendra 'Mahi' Singh Dhoni. Paan Singh is a pump operator who waters the practice ground. Fourteen years later, Mahi is spotted by a cricket coach while goalkeeping in a football game. He invites him to try out for the school cricket team as a wicketkeeper and selects him after being impressed. Mahi improves his batting and becomes a regular member of the team.
Three years later, a grown up Mahi helps win an inter-school cricket match. After achieving much fame, Mahi is selected for the Ranji Trophy but his draft notice is held up due to which he is late in reaching Kolkata despite his friends' help. But Mahi does not give up and, to please his father, he joins the Kharagpur Station as a ticket collector. Years later, Mahi's sister Jayanti is married to his friend Gautam Gupta.
After some time, Mahi is depressed with his job. With the insistence of his manager, Mahi decides to play cricket alongside his work, and after his day-shifts he goes to practice cricket. He participates in different tournaments and as a result he gets selected for the Railways. After a good performance, he tries-out for the India national under-19 cricket team selections. Bihar loses to Punjab where Yuvraj Singh scores 301 and Mahi does not succeed though he is selected for the Duleep Trophy.
Mahi leaves his job and admits to his father that cricket is his only ambition and he wants to become a professional cricketer. He works hard and is selected in the national team and makes his debut. He meets and befriends Priyanka Jha, an office consultant, and scores a century after meeting her. She buys a watch for him as a Valentine's Day gift but dies in a truck accident on her way. Mahi again goes into depression and has bad form in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. As captain of the national side, he wins the T-20 World Cup, and leads India to the number one ranking in Test matches.
In 2010, Mahi arrives at a hotel. Sakshi Singh Rawat, a hotel official fails to recognize him and later apologizes to him. They soon start dating and Mahi eventually proposes marriage to her after she mentions buying him a Valentine's Day's gift which he refuses. They marry and Mahi begins training for the 2011 World Cup. He eventually develops the team with new players. The film returns to the final where Mahi eases the pressure with a crucial innings. With 4 runs required, Mahi hits a six and India wins the final. His family, friends and coaches watching the match cry happy tears.
Since 2003, Dhoni's life has been chronicled in the media. Nobody knows what happened to him before that; before he made it to the Indian cricket team. So, it was relatively easy to revisit that life. That's where the story for the film came from.
Pandey was attracted to Dhoni's story not because of his successful cricket career, saying that "it's foolish to chase MS Dhoni's life story only because it's about cricket," but rather to instances and factors that made him the person he is today.[13] Dhoni wasn't involved in writing the script. Pandey recruited a team of researchers who collated data and background information while the director was busy directing Baby (2015).[13] The filmmakers decided that they would only green-light the film once they had a convincing story to tell after the research.[14] Pandey met with Dhoni numerous times over a span of eight months and by the eighth month of their meetings, in 2014, the main arc of the story began to form. Their first meeting took place in Delhi during a cricket match. During their sporadic meetings, Pandey chose not to record and tape their conversations which prompted Dhoni to open up more.[13][14]
Arun Pandey says 98% of the content in the film is reality. The team undertook two years of research on the various incidents and how they took place. Pandey says "such authenticity would be hard to find even in Hollywood."[10] Pandey revealed several prominent aspects of Dhoni's life that were hidden before including the fact that Dhoni initially disdained cricket and had a predilection for football instead, his signature "helicopter shot" was taught to him by his friend Santosh Lal, he likes women who don't recognise him, he and Yuvraj Singh had close ties even before their respective stardom and it was Dhoni who ousted Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid from the team since he wanted to build a young team for the 2011 World Cup with better fielders and he wasn't too happy with the 'fitness' levels of the aforementioned cricketers.[15]
Pandey decided to end the film with the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final since he felt "the arc of the story had a natural high at the 2011 World Cup win." He knew that they were chronicling almost 30 years of a sportsman's life "in a highly compressed manner" and said that had he extended the script to his sudden retirement during an ongoing series, the run time of the film would shoot up to six hours.[13]
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