I signed Sushant without seeing a single film of his: Neeraj Pandey

After the success of Rustom, producer-director Neeraj Pandey, is getting ready for the release of M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, which is being promoted by Dhoni himself.

Says Neeraj, “When we needed Dhoni to talk about the film at promotional events, he had retired from professional cricket and had time to be with us. If he was still playing, I doubt he’d have been able to support the film.”

Neeraj says he wanted to show the human side of Dhoni. “Everyone already knows about his triumphs on the field. It was the man outside the cricket field who interested me. His attitude to life and success were what I was interested in.”

On casting Sushant Singh Rajput, Neeraj says, “Since the beginning I was sure of Sushant. I had never seen any of Sushant’s films when I signed him. It was just a hunch that he was the one for the role, and I was right. His unflagging enthusiasm to get Dhoni right has given the film a sense of credibility and strength.”

What should fans expect? “A film that tells the truth. We’ve humanised Dhoni without glorifying him unnecessarily. We didn’t want to make Dhoni larger-than-life. The biopic will provide an insight into Dhoni’s mind. We haven’t deified him. We have shown him as human, yet heroic,” he says.