Rustom producer Neeraj Pandey, who has worked with Akshay Kumar before, said it was impossible to cast his favourite actor as MS Dhoni.
“It was not possible for Akshay to play a 16-17 year old teenager in the movie as Dhoni’s younger version. So I din’t cast him as MS Dhoni,” the director said on Friday.
He went on to praise the star of the film, actor Sushant Singh Rajput, saying: “He is a very good actor”. “Sushant reads the script very sincerely. He also picked the body language right”.
The director also said that he enjoys making patriotic movies and because the box-office response to such films is positive, he’ll continue to do them.
“MS Dhoni is also a patriotic film in its own way. It also speaks against corruption.”
The director’s portfolio includes movies such as Baby and A Wednesday.
For the biopic, Pandey’s research team had worked extensively, meeting MS Dhoni’s friends, family, coaches and also officials who have worked with Dhoni in Kharaghpur.
Upon being asked about cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s portrayal in the film, he said: “We don’t want to hurt someone. It’s a clean movie and Yuvraj Singh will definitely love it. You don’t become big by hurting someone.”
The director said his film not just about cricket. “The story of MS Dhoni is not just about cricket .It is his journey. If you are having a dream you can chase it and achieve it”.
MS Dhoni is Pandey’s first shot at making a biopic.
