The protagonist walks out with a low-angle camera moving in front. It follows him wherever he goes. The shot then cuts to a wider angle as the protagonist takes centre stage with thousands of supporters cheering in the background. They wait with bated breath for their hero to take guard. The music director in the background does his bit to elevate the moment. Even if it’s for a short glimpse, his presence in the middle is enough to send the crowd into a frenzy.
The visual grammar for a mass commercial Indian movie is more or less set along similar lines. There is a proven template that has worked for years, and even more so in the last couple of months. Not in theatres, but in cricket grounds across the country. The movie here is the 2023 IPL and the protagonist is Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni.
In Chennai, Dhoni is thala (leader). Elsewhere, Captain Cool. He has bulked up a bit and his hairstyle is different, but the man inside has not changed. Nor the fan following. Dhoni is the name that united fans across IPL.
There have been occasions when fans thronged the stadium hearing Dhoni’s presence for a short practice session. Take for instance just one week before the pandemic. There was fear among the masses of a virus that was sweeping through the world. It was March. The CSK team had come for a practice session. Thousands descended on the stadium in minutes and Dhoni was the main attraction.
While it is no secret the former India captain has a crazy fan following, it’s been different this year. He has been a one-man rockstar caravan this IPL season. There have been strong rumours that this is set to be Dhoni’s final season.
So, fans have thronged the stands, painted their faces yellow, and thrown allegiances outside the window to genuflect before the only person who has delivered all three global white-ball titles India has won since 2007. Moreover, the viewership on the official streaming platform skyrocketed every time he walked into bat.
Dhoni, however, has not said this will be his last season, nor has the CSK management. When he was asked if the Chennai crowd will see him next year after the win against Gujarat Titans, Dhoni had said that he still has eight-nine months to decide. He made it clear that he will always be there for CSK, be it as a player or in some other role. In a video shared by the franchise, their CEO Kasi Viswanathan said that they believe Dhoni will play in 2024 as well.
Even on a flight to Ahmedabad on Friday, fans were trying different ways to confirm if they were on the same flight as Dhoni. They were trying to record anyone who was wearing the team travel kit — somewhere even video calling their family and friends to show who is travelling with them — but the murmurs were all about one name. Dhoni. The few minutes when he stood up and walked to the front to use the lavatory was the most eventful moment of all. You could see dozens of hands and mobile phones trying to record a glimpse of his presence.
This IPL, another side of Dhoni has come to the fore. He as a mentor. Every time a CSK game gets over, you could see a bunch of young players, who weren’t even born when Dhoni had started playing cricket, surround him to try and pick his brain. For youngsters, Dhoni sounds different. Like Rajasthan Royals’ Dhruv Jurel succinctly puts it.
“I got to know why he’s so special because when I was talking to him, he was telling me such a simple thing which he did for almost 20 years in his career. He was just spitting the fact that like, that thing I also know, but he was sticking to it and making it work. He just said ‘you don’t have to be confused, plan and execute, if it doesn’t work, plan again and execute. And you have to do it every time’,” he said.
When Dhoni leads the team against Gujarat Titans in the final on Sunday, could it be his last?
As it has always been the case, we will never know. What we do know for sure is that there will be a sea of yellow filling the stadium.
