The makers of MS Dhoni: The Untold Story have been feeding fans little glimpses of the film — we’ve had two posters released so far, both of which showed Sushant Singh Rajput portraying Dhoni’s early look, from the time he worked as a ticket collector.
We begin by seeing Sushant as Dhoni, dressed in his uniform — navy blue blazer, maroon tie — walking through a crowded railway station. A snippet of dialogue that plays as a voice over gives us some context: “Mahendra Singh Dhoni, ticket collector, South Eastern Railway, reporting for duty sir,” says Sushant’s voice. Another voice — that of his supervisor’s — asks if this is his first day at work, and when Dhoni confirms that it is, rattles of a string of instructions about which platforms he’s expected to go to and at what time, which trains are due to arrive there, and who he should meet to collect the passengers’ lists.
Even as those instructions fade out, we hear another set of voices — and this time they are raised not to instruct but to revere, a chorus of fans chanting “Dhoni, Dhoni, Dhoni”. As the chants build to a crescendo, we see Dhoni sitting on a platform, sporting the longer hair that would become his trademark hairdo when he first became a breakout star on the Indian cricket scene.
A commentator’s voice then says, “India lift the World Cup after 20 years. And it’s an Indian captain who has been absolutely magnificent in the night of the final.”
The teaser makes it clear that the film will chart Dhoni’s journey from obscurity to international sports superstardom, and his leading of India to its World Cup win. But will it really tell, as its tagline promises, Dhoni’s “untold story”? For that, we’ll have to wait and watch.
MS Dhoni: The Untold Story is directed by Neeraj Pandey and will release on 2 September 2016.