MNS objects to 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story'

Sushant Singh Rajput starrer ‘M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story‘ is undoubtedly turning out to be the most anticipated release of the year. This biopic helmed by Neeraj Pandey was ready to apply a unique strategy to reach out to a wider audience. Neeraj had planned to dub this biopic based on cricket icon Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s life into Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. But it seems this plan has hit a political roadblock. Chitrapat Karmachari Sena (CKS), the film affairs wing of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, has objected for the dubbing of the film in Marathi saying it will lead to unfair competition for regional films.

Talking about this issue, Amey Khopkar, chief of CKS, says, “We have no objection to the film as such. In fact, I am planning to watch it. The problem, however, lies with the dubbed version. 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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Looking at the tremendous growth of the regional film industry in recent years, Neeraj had planned to dub this biopic into three languages as people across the country love Dhoni for his work and fans would get an instant connect with his journey through these local language releases. Whereas on the other side, Khopkar said that he has been receiving calls from actors, directors and producers from the regional film industry expressing their concern over this impending competition.

“That was when we decided to write to the producers of Dhoni with a request not to dub the film since it will eat into the business of local films. We hope to hear from them today. If they don’t respond, we will decide our next course of action,” added Khopkar.

‘M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story’ is slated to release on September 30, 2016.

Also Read: Shocking: Akshay Kumar wished to do MS Dhoni biopic but was refused by director