Roar of The Lion review: MS Dhoni’s documentary on Chennai Super Kings’ comeback to IPL is stylish and dramatic

The Indian Premier League 2019 begins today (March 23). And we will see reigning champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. On March 20th, Hotstar released a documentary series Roar of The Lion as Hotstar Specials. The series of five episodes showcases the journey of the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings’s dramatic comeback to IPL (to eventually winning the coveted trophy) after serving a two-year ban for 2013 spot-fixing scandal. Roar of The Lion is narrated mainly by the team’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has been the biggest anchor in the franchise’s stellar performances throughout all the IPL seasons so far.

MS Dhoni’s other teammates Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Deepak Chahar, former players Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and coach Stephen Fleming are also seen sharing their experiences. The documentary also features the support staff as well as the passionate Chennai Super Kings fans who share their journey throughout the two years of the ban. The documentary keeps switching between players sharing their experiences into the camera,  to the real footage of the matches, to team selections and meetings, as well as the news of the arrests of Vindu Dara Singh and CSK’s Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan.

Watch the Roar of The Lion trailer here:

Here, the attempt is to showcase the emotional and sentimental side of the franchise as well as the support of CSK fans. Also, it is an attempt to clean the image of the franchise and clear CSK’s side of the story. The series also shows how the franchise managed to retain the key players for IPL 2018, how they were trolled as being the Dad’s army because most of the CSK players were more than 30-years-old.

MS Dhoni does get sentimental at times and in one clip from the regrouping of the team ahead of the 2018 IPL, MS Dhoni chokes while addressing the team. That’s quite dramatic for a player ‘The Captain Cool’ who has never really shown emotions on the cricket field.

Since it’s a documentary – a piece of art – talking about the craft is a must. Cinematographer Nikhil Tandon has captured some beautiful and dramatic moments. Introduction of players with just their jerseys is visually appealing. The direction of Amir Rizvi and editing of Vinod Salhotra, Pradeep Negi and Nabeel Alvi keep the narrative quickly moving as the story unfolds in various chapters. Though better music could have added to a more dramatic impact, however, overall the episodes are quite engaging.

Produced by Dhoni Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Banijay Asia, Roar of The Lion is directed by Amir Rizvi, while Bollywood filmmaker Kabir Khan serves as an executive producer on the series. This is Kabir’s second stint with cricket after he announced the biopic on India’s 1983 cricket world cup victory titled 83, starring Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev.