Kabir Khan’s ’83 recreating   the events  leading up  to India’s  victory  in  the cricket  World Cup Series is  one of the most talked-about films in recent times.  Ranveer  Singh and Deepika  Padukone  who play legendary cricketer Kapil Dev and  his wife Romi are hoping to leap one-up  on their hat-trick  of Bhansali-helmed  superhits—Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani and  Padmaavat. Will 83 break  the records of  Ranveer-Deepika’s earlier blockbusters? Here’s why 83 is one of  the eagerly awaited  films of the  year.

1. It is  cricket. It’s  religion in India. Not since Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan has a film on cricket been so eagerly awaited by the  movie-going public. As  director Kabir Khan  said , this is  the proudest film he has made to date. Coming from the director  of Kabul Express, New York,Ek Tha Tiger and Bajrangi Bhaijaan, ’83 being the  most special  film of his career  is  truly a  confession worth underlining.
2. It is cricket and Kapil Dev. Now it can be told that many  directors in  the past  tried making a film on the  life of Kapil Dev and failed. In 2001 Anurag Kashyap was  all set to direct a film on the life and  games  of Kapil Dev. It was going to be  a  big-budgeted Rs 80 crores opus(which for those times was a fortune, equivalent to  160 crores today)  with  Kapil  starring as himself. When I had asked Kapil who would play Kapil he had drawled in his typical Kapil da jawaab nahin style, “Who else  can play Kapil Dev but me? Of course I can’t sing and dance. But the rest of my  life is  my life only.” The Kashyap project never  got off the ground,like many of his  pipedreams.  Ironically 83 is co-produced  by Phantom  Films the  production house which Kashyap once belonged to and which he finally broke up.
3. Kapil Dev insisted 83 is  not about him. When I spoke to him after the  film was announced he  told me irritably, “First of  all, it is not a film on me. So it is not my bio-pic.It is  a  film on the 1983  World Cup . Not about me.”  When I  gently pointed out  that he, Kapil was an integral  part  of the  1983  World Cup series  he snapped back,  “I was!But so were Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath and so many others. So the  film will probably be as much about them as me.”
4. Ranveer Singh’s Kapil Dev is  captaining the  film entitled ’83 based on India’s historic victory at the 1983 Cricket World Cup.But he won’t be the only central character of the  drama. All the 12 players would be given  prominence. This will be cricket’s Chak De without Shah Rukh Khan.In  fact  the producers  got the written, legally sanctioned consent  of  each of the 12 players , all of whom  agreed to come on board as consultants. Each of the 12 players  is  played by an actor capable of conveying the character’s personality The fabulously balanced  film is  not looking at making Kapil Dev a bigger hero say, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal,just because Ranveer plays Kapil Dev. They will all be equally important to the plot. Besides Ranveer Singh the film casts  actors, not stars in 83.Because the project needed that one star-presence to give the film a visibility in the public eye. For the rest  of the cast of cricketers they  were  keen on  getting brilliant actors  on  board  who must also be fantastic cricket  players. Says Kabir Khan, “We are not  focussing on the game itself. We are going to focus  on what went on behind the scenes, the greenroom politics leading up to India’s most spectacular victory,”
5. It is widely believed that  Mrs  Ranveer Singh , Deepika Padukone,  as  Mrs Kapil Dev  has little to do in  the  the film. Not true! Deepika actually has a substantial role  , as she plays the  power behind the throne. The original plan was to focus  largely on the  cricketers. But with  Deepika  joining the cast Romi Kapil Dev’s role expanded almost automatically. More power  to girlpower.

83 (2021)