6 Lessons Every Family Should Take Away From The MS Dhoni Movie

This past week, MS Dhoni – The Untold Story released and every parent I know has been wondering whether they should watch the movie and more importantly take their kids too! We were intrigued too especially because at Kidsstoppress we recently concluded a series called Creating World Champions and frankly, Dhoni is one of India’s greatest cricket players!

The biopic begins with a picture of Dhoni’s modest family background. Then we are shown that Dhoni actually played football and not cricket and it was a complete accident that led him to the cricket field! As urban parents we are well aware of how much trouble we take to send our kids for classes and how we show them by example about how easy it is to quit, but how much more difficult and rewarding it is to persevere at something. In the movie we are shown that no matter how much ever parents persist, the drive to learn something and excel at it must come from within. Dhoni was never followed by his mom pestering him to practice or making sure he had endless dabbas of healthy snacks to keep him going. He wanted to excel and therefore he practiced. Hard.

The movie is a good one to watch with kids, because not only do they know who Mahendra Singh Dhoni is but there are so many lessons worth learning from the movie.

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The movie teaches children about friendship. Not the importance of it in a pedantic way but just how important it is to cultivate and maintain good friendship. In the movie Dhoni’s biggest supporters are his friends. They do everything from supporting him with whatever he needs to standing by his side in times of dire need.

Teaches kids the power of mental strength. In an iconic test match Dhoni and his team lose to the opposite team because they are overwhelmed and unable to perform under pressure. What Dhoni does and tells his teammates highlights the importance of mental strength for a sportsperson.

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Family comes first. Despite his dreams and passion, Dhoni takes up a job as a railway TC. This is primarily to support his family and help them in their desperate time of need.

Follow your dreams. That iconic moment when he takes the train back from Kharagpur to Ranchi was when he realised life was slipping away and so was time. He had to take this call. It was time for him to turn his life around. This was a risky move given that his family needed him to continue working as a TC but he realized the importance of following his dreams.

You can’t please everyone all the time. You can’t keep everyone happy and sometimes when you are in a position of power you need to take tough decisions. When Dhoni suggests a few changes in the team it obviously ruffles a lot of feathers but he believed in himself and his decisions and stood strong.

Never give up: You can’t have a win every day. There will days when nothing will go according to plan but that’s part of life and sports teaches you that.

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So whether you are looking to help your children pick up a sport, or simply want to take in a feel good film about one of India’s greatest sportspersons, go watch this movie and make sure to talk about the movie with your kids after.

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