Makers of MS Dhoni biopic clarify that Fawad Khan was not part of the movie

Amidst reports that Pakistani actor Fawad Khan's portrayal of Virat Kohli in “MS Dhoni: The Untold Story” was chopped amidst the Uri terror attack, the makers of the movie have clarified that he was never part of the movie to begin with.

There were rumours before the release of MS Dhoni’s biopic that scenes involving Fawad Khan, who supposedly portrayed the role of Virat Kohli in the movie, was cut from the film just a week prior to its release on September 30 due to the Uri attack.

After the Uri Attacks, the Indian Motion Picture Producer Association banned Pakistani actors and that resulted in the swift removal of Fawad’s role according to rumours. It was also reported that the director of the biopic did not want any negative publicity or controversy surrounding the movie about the Indian captain.

However, all those rumours surrounding the actor’s role in the movie have put to rest after a statement released by Fox Star Studios.

In a statement, Fox Star Studios said: “Fawad Khan was never part of the film ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story'. Even when we were casting the movie, he was not in the consideration set. Dhoni is an extremely realistic biopic and we have been true to that even in our casting.”

The statement clearly indicates that despite several rumours and reports speaking about the role of Fawad in the movie, he was never even cast in the first place, so all the rumours that his role was supposed to be a surprise for his viewers were nothing but that, rumours.

The biopic directed by Neeraj Pandey and starring Sushant Singh Rajput as MS Dhoni alongside Kiara Advani, Disha Patani, Anupam Kher and Bhumika Chawla has got off to a record-breaking start at the box office, bringing in the second-highest opening weekend of 2016 (Rs. 66 crore) behind Salman Khan’s Sultan.

MS Dhoni’s biopic was only the fifth 2016 film after Sultan, Housefull 3, Fan and Rustom to open in excess of Rs. 50 crore at the opening weekend. And it merely continued on from that initial momentum as it brought in Rs. 94.13 crore in the opening week, which is the second-best opening week of the year and overall, the 19^th best opening week in India.

#MSDhoniTheUntoldStory Fri 21.30 cr, Sat 20.60 cr, Sun 24.10 cr, Mon 8.51 cr, Tue 7.52 cr, Wed 6.60 cr, Thu 5.50 cr. Total: 94.13 cr.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) October 7, 2016