Rajkummar Rao’s first look as former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly in his biopic, Dada, failed to impress a large section of the Internet. The first look, recreating the Lord’s celebration moment, was unveiled on the occasion of Ganguly’s 54th birthday. While Rao received praise from industry colleagues, the Internet criticised his look in strong words.
Internet’s reaction
Ali Fazal, Ayushmann Khurrana, Neha Dhupia and Manushi Chhillar praised Rajkummar’s look in the comments on his post.
But the Internet didn’t mince words. A large section felt the editing could have been better, saying the image looked AI-generated.
A user wrote, “ChatGPT would have done a better job.”
Another user wrote, “As a Dada fan, this is by far one of the worst first looks for a biopic I’ve seen. Even AI could probably come up with a more impactful look.”
A third comment read, “Even fan-made posters have better effort and effects than this.”
“Is this a joke?” said another.
“Is this the official poster? Isse accha poster we used to make in our school projects,” said another.
Even X didn’t show any mercy.
“Look at this poster, guys! Main poochta hoon, WHO IS HE? Rajkummar Rao looks like he is celebrating getting a 10% discount on JioMart, not winning at Lord’s! Dada wave kar rahe the, yeh toh lagta hai bus pakad rahe hain. Such a disaster VFX and look! Disgusting!” wrote one.
Look at this poster, guys! 🤦♂️ Main poochta hoon, WHO IS HE? Rajkummar Rao looks like he is celebrating getting a 10% discount on JioMart, not winning at Lord’s! Dada wave kar rahe thhe, yeh toh lagta hai bus pakad rahe hain. Such a disaster VFX and look! Disgusting!#Dada pic.twitter.com/JhtbmpOGev
— Gaurav🧢 (@_heretorule) July 8, 2026
This is so so MID POSTER. I mean not even close to Original #SouravGanguly 😳#RajKummarRao is COMPLETELY going OUT OF DIRECTION in Acting. #Dada will FLOP HARD ! Mark this ✅ pic.twitter.com/kX5avPPaoM
— CineHub (@Its_CineHub) July 8, 2026
An angry fan wrote, “#RajKummarRao is COMPLETELY going OUT OF DIRECTION in acting. #Dada will FLOP HARD! Mark this.”
About Dada
The film has been produced by filmmakers Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg of Luv Films. Vikramaditya Motwane is directing the film.
In an interview with PTI in July 2025, Ganguly said Rao was the right choice to portray him.
The iconic moment
Back in 2002, in the NatWest Series final against Nasser Hussain’s side, India had lost nine consecutive ODI finals. After England posted a huge total of 325 for 5, the pressure was squarely on the visitors.
Marcus Trescothick (109) and Hussain (115) had deflated the Indian bowling attack with a 185-run stand for the second wicket; chasing the big target, India slipped to 146 for 5 after being given a 106-run start by openers Ganguly (60) and Virender Sehwag (45).
But just when a win looked certain for England, two Indian youngsters-Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh-owned the ground with a fearless display of batting.
The pair added 121 runs in an aggressive sixth-wicket partnership that brought India back into a position from which they could force a win, and the thrilling two-wicket victory was eventually sealed by Kaif and Zaheer Khan (4 not out) in the final over.
In response to that nerve-wracking win, Ganguly waved his Indian jersey on the Lord’s balcony before running onto the field to hug the batsmen.
