MS Dhoni biopic director reveals interesting story of the cricketer's younger days playing 'ghost' pranks
India’s limited overs skipper MS Dhoni might have mellowed down over the years after storming into the Indian cricket team as a youngster sporting long hairs more than a decade ago but interesting snippets being revealed about the 35-year-old about his antics during his younger days reveals the prankster hidden behind the calm and composed guy we see today.
The release of the wicketkeeper batsman's biopic MS Dhoni: The Untold Story directed by Neeraj Pandey is just over a month away and with the release inching closer day by day, more and more stories are being revealed about Dhoni's journey from the unknown into being one of the most recognisable and marketable faces in the Indian sporting sector.
The director revealed an interesting story about Dhoni he had picked up while shooting at the railway quarters near the Kharagpur railway station, famous for having the longest railway platform in India. It was the then divisional railway manager of South Eastern Railway, Animesh Kumar Ganguly, who opened the doors for Dhoni’s future as an Indian national team player after being impressed by the hard-hitting batsman’s brute power.
Also read: 7 things about MS Dhoni you may not know
Dhoni landed the job of a Train Ticket Examiner (TTE) in the sports quota after cementing a place in the South Eastern Railway cricket team and the rest as they say is history. But it was not all job and cricket for Dhoni at the industrial city located in West Bengal as Neeraj Pandey narrated how the cricketer, along with his roommates at the railway quarters used to play ghost pranks with unsuspecting motorists during night hours.
"The tallest of them, wrapped up in a white sheet, would stand under a lamp post waiting for someone to come along the road. The driver would brake to a sudden halt on seeing the 'ghost' who would then run towards the car, causing him to desperately press down on the accelerator as he attempted to flee,” Pandey quipped. “As they watched the tyres screech and the car skid, Dhoni, and his roommates would guffaw in the shadows, later patting the 'ghost' for a job well done."
Most bits of Dhoni’s biopic, which is slated for release on September 30, has been shot around in real locations from Dhoni’s past, including the ‘M’ block quarters of MECON (Metallurgical & Engineering Consultants India Limited) Colony in Ranchi where Dhoni stayed when his father Pan Singh landed a job there. The movie director revealed how one house where Dhoni stayed overlooked a cricket ground on which he would eventually play Ranji cricket from being a meek spectator earlier.
"They moved houses a few times and one of them overlooked a cricket ground. Dhoni would stand on the balcony and watch matches, never imagining that one day he'd play a Ranji match on the same ground," Pandey said.