Sports
No villain in my life, says Dhoni
New Delhi : India’s ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who keenly awaits the release of “M. S. Dhoni: An Untold Story” — a biopic by filmmaker Neeraj Pandey — says at first he was hesitant to give a nod to the project as he thought what kind of a film can be made on him as he doesn’t have any villains in his life.
The film, which stars Sushant Singh Rajput in the title role, has been co-produced by Dhoni’s longtime friend Arun Pandey.
Dhoni, who was in the capital on Tuesday to promote the film along with Sushant, Pandey and Fox Star CEO Vijay Singh, said when Pandey came to him with idea of a biopic, he first took him lightly and felt a bit hesitant.
“I didn’t pay any attention to Arun when he came up with this idea first. But problem took place when he quickly came back and said that we have finalised the deal. So then I couldn’t back off. I thought that making the film will take a lot of time,” Dhoni said in a chat with actor and host Gaurav Kapur.
“After that I opened up and told them what I went through throughout my life. I was born in 1981 — a time when education was given more importance than sports. The good thing was that there was not much family pressure on me. It was more time management.
“This film is informative in a lot of ways because people, who know me in Ranchi, don’t know what I did in Kharagpur when I lived there for four years. After that from 2004 till now I played internationally. This movie to some extent brings everything together,” he added.
Dhoni said when he was approached for the project, he thought on what context of his life the film will be based on.
“Initially I was thinking what context they will make the movie on. There is no villain in my life. So it’s mainly about decision making and be humble in your life,” he said.
Asked whether he feels pride to be idolised by many or feels the pressure, Dhoni said: “It’s the pride factor more than pressure because I have always believed in taking control of things patiently.
“To me taking it positively is more important than taking it as a pressure. I always felt great about the fact that I come from a small city and I got a lot of love and affection there.”
“M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story”, which will release in 4,500 screens in India and around 1,000 screens abroad on Friday, will showcase Dhoni’s life from his childhood days till the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
However, Dhoni, 35, said that there should not be a sequel to the film as it will be “very controversial”.
“I don’t think we should think about a sequel as it will be very controversial. After 2011 there were only controversies and nothing else (in my life). Nothing else is there. There will be only villains in it,” Dhoni said.
The film also stars Anupam Kher, Rajesh Sharma and Bhumika Chawla.
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.