MS Dhoni: Here's why Neeraj Pandey chose Sushant Singh Rajput over Akshay Kumar

Neeraj Pandey, who is helming the MS Dhoni biopic, has lifted the lid on why he cast Sushant Singh Rajput to play the role of the Indian skipper.

"Sushant is a very good actor. He reads the script very sincerely. He also picked the body language right," he said in an interview on 9 September.

Pandey, who has worked with Akshay Kumar in Baby and Rustom, said he could not cast his favourite actor in the biopic. "It was not possible for Akshay to play a 16-17 year old teenager in the movie as Dhoni's younger version. So I din't cast him as MS Dhoni," he said.

Pandey, who won acclaim for his film, A Wednesday, said that he wants to make more patriotic films.

"MS Dhoni is also a patriotic film in its own way. It also speaks against corruption," he said.

When asked about the kind of research that went into making the Dhoni biopic he said that his team had met MS Dhoni's friends, family, coaches and officials who have worked with the cricketer in Kharaghpur.

On being asked how cricketer Yuvraj Singh has been shown in the film, Pandey said:

"We don't want to hurt someone. Its a clean movie and Yuvraj Singh will definitely love it. You don't become big by hurting someone".

"The story of MS Dhoni is not just about cricket .It is his journey. If you are having a dream you can chase it and achieve it," he said.