New Delhi: Actor Akshay Kumar and director Neeraj Pandey struck gold when they partnered together for Special 26. The film earned critical acclaim for the ‘Airlift’ actor while helped the filmmaker enhance his credibility after ‘The Wednesday’.
As per reports, Akshay was too happy with his collaboration with Neeraj Pandey that he volunteered to be a part of his next directorial venture – M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story.
He, reportedly, tried to convince Pandey to let him play ‘Captain Cool’ in the movie. But guess what, the director refused him saying that the actor (Akshay) and cricketer (Dhoni) didn't look anything like one another.
Akshay, reportedly, agreed to what director said and then afterwards Sushant Singh Rajput was roped in to play MS Dhoni in the biopic.
Sushant, known for being a meticulous actor, transformed his look to as close to the cricketer as possible, growing his hair, bulking up in the shoulders. The actor is overwhelmed with the opportunity and says it helped him become a better human being.
“There are few films and characters that offer you a chance at being a better human being. This is one such opportunity. I have been a huge fan of Dhoni and seen him play for 10 years or so. The biggest challenge for me was to convince myself that I was Dhoni. But now I can comfortably say that I haven’t played Dhoni, I am Dhoni,” he said.
If we come back to Akshay and Neeraj, the actor-director duo has also worked together for ‘Baby’, which was a commercial success. Now, their current project is ‘Rustom’ in which Akshay will be seen in the role of naval officer.
The movie is slated for an August 12 release.
