Bollywood director Kabir Khan is all set to come out with his documentary ‘Roar of the Lion’ ahead of another exciting season of the Indian Premier League. Meanwhile, the director has documented the historical return of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) following a two-year suspension for spot-fixing. Speaking about the project, Kabir admitted that it would present a very personal side of CSK skipper MS Dhoni.
The Chennai-based franchise had served a two-year ban for its management’s role in the 2013 spot-fixing scandal. The Hotstar Special documentary series, directed and executive produced by Kabir Khan, narrates how the MS Dhoni-led team made a comeback, winning Indian Premier League 2018. Meanwhile, many pundits ruled CSK out of title-contention due to the average age of the side being on the higher side. However, they defied every argument to script one of the significant comebacks in cricket.
Chennai stunned one and all playing some brilliant cricket to finish the league stages in the second spot behind Sunrisers Hyderabad. They then defeated Hyderabad in back to back games to lift their third IPL title – thus equaling with Mumbai Indian’s three titles. In an interview with PTI, the director says the series is a human exploration, one beyond the obvious, to show what the phase did to the people involved. Kabir Khan also revealed that MS Dhoni went through trauma during that phase; however, he didn’t speak about it.
“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,” Kabir Khan said.
Personal side of Dhoni
The director shot the documentary on a tight schedule of three months and involved a series of intense, honest and lengthy discussions with MS Dhoni. The director, who is currently working on 83 – his next project based on India’s victorious World Cup campaigns in 1983, noted that nobody had seen the Dhoni the way he will be in this series.
“Our interviews with him on tape lasted sometimes seven to eight hours. He trusted me and had the confidence that I’ll be sensitive in the way things are going to be portrayed. He was ready to bare his soul.
“You’ve never seen Dhoni speak like this. He has always been silent about these matters. You’ll see Dhoni in a very personal, emotional way on this series,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the docu-series will be out for public viewing on March 20, three days before the commencement of the IPL 12.