It was all we could have hoped for. Be it candidly expressing his wish to meet Superstar or trying his best to utter a few lines in Tamil, Mahendra Singh Dhoni proved that his heart still beats for Chennai! When Mahi was in the city to promote his biopic, M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, he was as witty as ever, teasing Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput and also engaging in a sweet interaction with Suriya’s son and daughter.
Speaking about how he reacted initially upon learning that a biopic was to be made on him, Dhoni said, “I didn’t pay much attention, because I thought it might take a lot of time and I never expected it to happen. But when the producer came up with the detailed plan, it was a pleasant surprise — and I realised that it was too late for me to back off then! Though it was difficult to recall what happened all those years ago, eventually it all came back to me.”
While he heaped praises on Sushant’s efforts to prepare and train for the role, he didn’t miss the chance to pull his leg too — “He is a tremendous actor. Sushant gets into the character so much so, that I don’t want to see him act like Dhoni in his next film — which is a sequel of Byomkesh Bakshi!”
Of course, everyone went ‘aww’ when Suriya and Jyothika’s kids, Dev and Diya went up on stage to meet the Indian cricket captain. When Diya queried Dhoni if he was naughty at school, the 35-year-old replied, “Yes, I was quite mischievous. But, I always followed the guidelines of my parents and teachers.”
Mahi also went on to say that he loved Suriya’s blockbuster movie Singam. “After I watched the Hindi version of Singham, people suggested that I check out the original. I saw the whole film with subtitles and it was terrific.”
And he even paid tribute to namma ooru’s local cuisine — “I like the biriyani in Chennai, despite it being spicy, and I am also a huge fan of the filter kaapi!”
On a concluding note, Mahi sent the crowd to frenzy as he enacted Rajinikanth’s cult dialogue ‘En vazhi thani vazhi’ from Padayappa — complete with Thalaivar’s signature style from the movie! “I was always shy to ask people if I could meet Superstar. I wish it would happen!” And, only moments after conveying this, Dhoni managed to realise his dream — meeting Rajinikanth along with Sushant, and even taking a selfie with the legend. Clearly, Mahi set Chennai on fire for a day, alright.
