'83 Movie Review: Ranveer Singh makes audience stand and applause with a stellar performance

Cricket in India is not just a sport, it’s an emotion. The connection people have with the game is something that cannot be described in words. Every Indian win is an occasion for celebration for the cricket-crazy fans. The passion for the game has reflected in India’s performance as well. Over the years, the team has progressed to become one of the best sides in the world.

The seeds for this massive evolvement of the sport in India was sowed in 1983 when underdogs India, led by Kapil Dev, went on to win their maiden World Cup. No one gave India a chance in the tournament, even the team was not very optimistic about their odds, but an inspirational Kapil Dev induced a feeling of self-belief and led the team to glory.

1983 World Cup win is an iconic moment in Indian cricket history and recreating it on the Silver Screen was a herculean task. Given the recent trends in Indian cinema, a movie on the 1983 World Cup win was due but many doubted if Bollywood had the bandwidth to do justice to the sporting watershed.

Director Kabir Khan took up the brave project and aced it to perfection. The movie 83 got released on Christmas Eve and was off to a rollicking start. The movie perfectly depicts the emotion, excitement and euphoria that gripped the nation on June 25, 1983, when Kapil Dev lifted the World Cup at the iconic Lords stadium.

Ranveer Singh plays a captain’s knock

Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev lifts the film to another level. It’s not easy to emulate Kapil Dev on screen but Singh was at his flawless best and aced the role. The makeup, his Punjabi accent perfectly resembled Dev, leaving the audience awestruck.

However, the movie would not have been a success had the supporting cast not complimented Ranveer. Pankaj Tripathi as team manager P.R. Man Singh, Saqib Saleem as Mohinder Amarnath, Jiiva as Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Jatin Sarna as Yashpal Sharma – spook life in their roles. Deepika Padukone didn’t have a lot to offer but does justice to her role as Romi Dev in the limited screen time she had. The movie is available in 3D which gives the audience a next-to-the-real feel of a gala event.

India’s road to glory in the 1983 World Cup

India went into the World Cup with few expectations. They even had a return ticket booked before the semifinals. They were issued the entry passes for every other ground but Lord’s, which was set to stage the final of the event. Having lost three of the four practice games, India faced giants West Indies in their first game. The Men from the Caribbean were expected to steamroll the Indians but an inspired performance from Yashpal Sharma took India to a stunning win over the World Champions, which many termed as a fluke.

In the next game, India beat Zimbabwe to top the group. They were hammered by Australia and West Indies in their following two games before they bounced back to beat Zimbabwe. At 17/5 India were in a dire state against Zimbabwe. However, Kapil Dev smashed a world record 175 to help India win a stunning game.

India defeated England in the semis to book a title clash with West Indies. Having bowled out for 183, West Indies were well on their way to win their third world title. Everything looked under control till Viv Richards was at the crease. However, post his departure, West Indies collapsed from 50-1 to 140-all out, with Mohinder Amarnath taking 3-12.

CricTracker’s rating: 3.5/5