MS Dhoni’s biopic gets opposition from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena before its release in state
The Indian ODI and Twenty20 cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the most successful Indian captain and he is also one of the cricketers who have a very high number of followers. As known widely, Dhoni’s biopic ‘M.S.Dhoni-The Untold Story’ is one of the most awaited movies of the year. Not only cricket fans but all the rest are waiting for the movie to release which is going to be in the theatres soon. The producers of the film starring Sushant Singh Rajput as Dhoni, recently announced that the movie will be dubbed in Marathi before it is released in Maharashtra but Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was not happy with the decision.
Soon after the announcement, the distributor of the film-Fox Entertainment received a written opposition from MNS. As quoted by Firstpost, the President of the Maharashtra Navnirman Chitrapat Karmachari Sena (MNCKS) Ameya Khopkar said "By dubbing such movies in Marathi you are creating competition for local films, which are already facing problems. A Maharashtrian, as it is, follows Hindi. If he wants to see the film, he can watch it in Hindi." MNCKS is the film wing of the MNS.
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As stated from the point of view of MNS, if the Maharashtrians want to watch Dhoni’s biopic they can also watch it in Hindi as it would be wrong to say that all the people in this state can only speak in Marathi.
Regarding the film’s dubbing, the president told the journalists “If one producer releases his film in Marathi, it will pave the way for the others too. That is a scary scenario since regional filmmakers already face a lot of problems in getting screens at multiplexes. Bharatmata Cinema, a single-screen theatre in Lalbaug, plays only Marathi films. If they too start screening dubbed films, where will our producers and directors go?”
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The renowned Marathi actor-filmmaker Sachin Pilgaonkar joined the controversy and said“I appreciate the progress (of the Marathi film industry) but at the same time I am worried about the Marathi film industry as well. The number of films is increasing day by day but every film cannot be a Sairat.” He added “There are four releases every week and the audience is limited. Non-Maharashtrians went to watch Sairat, but do they go to watch every Marathi film — they don't. When you release three films together then audience is divided.”
Reports suggested that the movie makers have already dubbed the movie in Telugu and Tamil just to add a regional feeling to the film watchers. The trailers of these dubbed versions were promoted by the popular actors Naveen Babu and Dhanush respectively. It is now to be seen that whether the film can overcome with the Maharashtra issue or not. The Neeraj Pandey directed Dhoni’s biographical movie is the most anticipated movie of the year and is going to hit theatres on 30th September.