After Mumbai Indians’ docu-series, defending IPL champions Chennai Super Kings is set to have their own documentary titled ‘Roar of the Lion’, highlighting their triumphant comeback in the cash-rich event last season following a two-year hiatus for spot-fixing.
Renowned filmmaker Kabir Khan will direct the Hotstar Special docu-series. In an interview with PTI, the director recently revealed that the series will see a “very personal” side of cricketer MS Dhoni.
“We know all about the broad strokes, the legal side and the uproar. We don’t know what was happening to the individuals beyond those headlines. This is a story behind the headlines. Were these headlines affecting Dhoni? Of course, they were, but he never spoke about it, until now,” Kabir quoted.
He also added that the series aims to bring out the emotional journey, which the mainstream narrative missed out.
“The controversy was hurting other players but we never heard their perspective. That’s what the USP of the show is. It is a story we all know. How it played out. But we don’t know the details and layers of the emotional journey of the protagonist.”
The shot of the episodic series was done on a tight schedule of three months. It involves a series of intense, honest and long discussions with the legendary CSK skipper Dhoni.
“Our interviews with him on tape lasted sometimes seven to eight hours. He trusted me and had the confidence that I will be sensitive in the way things are going to be portrayed. He was ready to bare his soul.
“You have never seen Dhoni speak like this. He has always been silent about these matters. You will see Dhoni in a very personal, emotional way in this series,” Kabir Khan said.
Incidentally, ‘Roar of the Lion’ becomes the second cricket-related project for Kabir, who is preparing to direct his next feature, 83, which narrates Indian’s maiden first World Cup win under the leadership of Kapil Dev.
“Even if I wasn’t working on 83, I would have done Roar of the Lion because it was a fascinating and heartwarming story of the triumph of the human spirit. It has a classic sports story graph,” he said.
“The most successful IPL franchise has match-fixing allegations against them and the icon of the country: Dhoni. They get banned, they cope with that, come back after the allegations are cleared, build a team which is ridiculed and go on to win again. How could I not have done this?” Kabir concluded.
While the 12th edition of Indian Premier League gets underway from March 23, Roar of the Lion starts streaming on Hotstar from March 20.
(With PTI inputs)
