In last-minute final-edit call, Dhoni biopic 'M.S. Dhoni - The Untold Story' makers delete names of three top cricketers embroiled in 2008 selection fracas with India captain
'MS Dhoni' drops Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, again!
Clockwise from top left: Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni
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With just days to go before 'M.S. Dhoni - The Untold Story' hits the screens, the makers have decided to delete the names of three legendary cricketers from a crucial scene.
Ever since the trailer was launched on August 11, online buzz has been centred around the scene where Sushant Singh Rajput, playing MS Dhoni, is being lambasted by selectors for ruthlessly asking for the axing of three senior cricketers.
“Yeh teenon ko nikaalke rukne wala nahin hai (He won’t stop at dropping these three alone),” says a selector in the film, to which Dhoni responds over a video call, “We’re all servants, and we’re all doing national duty.”
The line that follows in the original version of the film names the three said cricketers who, sources told mid-day, are VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Now, in a last-minute call, the filmmakers have self-censored the line directly referring to the names from the final edit of the biopic, the sources added.
Also read: Did BCCI charge biopic makers Rs 40 lakh for MS Dhoni's footage?
Confirming the development, director Neeraj Pandey told mid-day, “The sequence from the promo is very much there in the movie. All we have done is knock off names of the three cricketers who were mentioned. This is as per the original plan, discussed with Dhoni a year and half ago, where we had decided to shoot the scene with the names, yes, but take a call on this only in the final edit.”
The reason behind the decision, as Pandey put it, is to desist from “unnecessarily ruffling feathers, when that is not the intention or tone of the movie.” Asked to name the cricketers who were mentioned in the original version, Pandey laughed, “Are you seriously asking me that question? Obviously I can’t. That would be highly disrespectful of me to do.”
Also read: Gautam Gambhir's subtle dig at MS Dhoni, says 'cricketers don't need biopics'
Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman were dropped from the one-day squad for the 2008 Commonwealth Bank Series down under, even as they were set to play the crucial fourth Test of the acrimonious Monkeygate series under Kumble’s leadership.
The selectors and limited overs captain Dhoni, who debuted under Ganguly in ODIs and Dravid in Tests, came under criticism for the axing of the three senior players, that too before the fourth Test was played. While Dravid and Laxman had been out of contention in white ball cricket for some time then, Ganguly’s exclusion became a hot-button issue at the time. The BCCI had to field the then Secretary Niranjan Shah to justify the decision. “The emphasis was on fielding abilities and the team management wanted a young fielding side for the series,” Shah had told the press.
Sushant Singh Rajput in a still from 'M S Dhoni: The Untold Story'
The team management and Dhoni , however, would have eventually felt vindicated as a sprightly India — riding on two Sachin Tendulkar specials — won the series to end a 23-year ODI series win drought in Australia. Dhoni, incidentally, watched the first cut of his biopic last month. What did he think of it?
“Well he just sat in silence for 10 minutes, didn’t speak a word. It was quite an awkward feeling for him, watching his own self, being played by an actor, on the big screen,” Pandey said.
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