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The game of Cricket was quite popular in India before 1983 World Cup also when people used to listen to the running commentaries of the test matches on radio / transistor and admire the Indian cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev for their game. However the Cricket World Cup of 1983(of the limited overs format) proved to be a watershed moment in the history of Indian Cricket. The unexpected triumph of India in that took the popularity of this game(especially the limited overs format) to dizzy heights. This achievement was highly significant as India had partaken in the event as underdogs. Nobody including the Indians(plus the team itself) was expecting India to even reach the semi-finals. However India not only reached the semi-finals, but also reached the final and ultimately won the cup, surprising all and sundry(including themselves). This is counted among the most important sports achievements of India.
It was almost a month long journey for the Indian Cricket team who reached England in the beginning of June 1983. The team members faced practical difficulties(e.g., food and cloth washing), setbacks in the form of a couple of defeats and the issues related to morale and confidence but nothing remained the same once the event was over. Indian Cricket changed forever. Director Kabir Khan decided to recreate this journey on the big screen and conceived the Hindi movie 83 which was released in 2021. It was a difficult job for the seasoned movie director as he had to find the actors resembling the real players of that period, teach them the game of Cricket and do a lot of research work also to properly understand what had happened during the tournament(and also before the start of that). After watching the movie, any Cricket loving person of India can say that he has done a fairly good job.
The movie starts with the iconic moment of Kapil Dev taking the catch of Vivian Richards in the final and then goes in flash back to tell the full story. In the true sense, it begins with the team manager P. R. Man Singh's activities related to arranging the things for the players. Man Singh's character remains with the audience till the end. He is the link between various activities of the players. He deals with the press and the authorities as well. Once the tournament starts, he is the main cheerleader for the team on one hand and a consoler on the other in the moment of a defeat.
After the beginning scenes involving the team manager and the players, the movie takes off from the very first match of the team which was with the two times champion West Indies who had won the previous two tournaments with considerable ease and was all set to make it three in a row. With the surprising win in that match, Kabir Khan starts showing the journey of the Indian Cricket team moving through highs and lows and finally winning the World Cup. The spectator goes through this journey with the team on the screen which is highly engrossing. In the end, there is a monologue of(real) Kapil Dev which is the icing on the cake.
This movie can be liked mainly by those Indians who had witnessed the wins of the Indians in that period either on radio or on television. Kabir Khan has perhaps made this movie for them only to relive that sensation. The next(Cricket loving) generation came to know about that historic achievement through readings and hearsay only. Hence to make this generation also enjoy the movie, a special effort was needed. Kabir Khan has done so by keeping his Cricket right. The nuances of various matches have been shown correctly for the most part of the movie. The actors have been trained well in all the parts of the game - batting, bowling and fielding. And the director and the cinematographer have been able to keep all these three parts in a single frame is also no less an achievement for them. The director has juxtaposed the real footage(taken from the archives) with the scenes of the movie at certain places which is impressive and increases the pleasure of watching.
All the same, it's not a great sports movie like Chak De India which is able to inspire the youths. It is only a recreation of a historic sports achievement on the silver screen. India won the matches. Fine. But how the Indians were able to do so, is not clear. Kabir Khan could present the facts but not the path leading to them. Unnecessary gimmicks(e.g., real Kapil Dev cheering for his screen persona) plus the personal life things of some Cricketers have been inserted into the narrative thus diluting its overall effect. Some incidents shown in the movie appear to be imaginary. Director's research work appears to be okay(he might have discussed a lot of things with the real players and the real team manager to know the facts). Still it is felt by any sincere Cricket lover(who must have witnessed the real event) that something is missing. Certain things appear to have been given undue weightage whereas certain other things appear to have been given less significance, e.g., most of the matches have been shown in a lengthy way whereas the crucial last league match against Australia has been wrapped in barely a minute.
The film has been elevated by the spirited performances of the actors. Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev is the best performer whereas Pankaj Tripathi as P. R. Man Singh comes a close second. Ranveer Singh's personality is not just a marvel of the make-up and hairdo which made him look like the real Kapil Dev but his own efforts put in to present the great allrounder on the screen. He has absorbed the gait, the way of talking and on top of it all, the way of batting, bowling and fielding of the real Kapil Dev. The audience do not see Ranveer Singh on the screen. It's Kapil Dev only who is visible there. Pankaj Tripathi is an excellent actor and he has presented team manager P. R. Man Singh on the screen in a lively manner. The other actors playing the parts of different Indian(and foreign too) Cricketers have done very well, no doubt. Ranveer Singh's wife Deepika Padukone has been cast as Romi, the wife of Kapil Dev. She has filled the glamour quota but did not have much to do just like the actresses playing the parts of some other Cricketers. The real casting coup managed for this movie is in the form of Mohinder Amarnath playing the role of his father, Lala Amarnath, Chirag Patil playing the role of his father, Sandeep Patil and Mali Marshall playing the role of his father, Malcom Marshall. A special mention is deserved by Neena Gupta who has played the mother of Kapil Dev.
Many dialogues spoken by the Cricketers are difficult to understand as the audibility is poor. The background score is not bad though. Songs including one chest thumping patriotic song, are good. Linking of Cricket to patriotism and communal harmony is also unnecessary. The movie boasts of technical excellence. However a tighter editing would have made it a better movie.
Overall speaking, 83 is not a great movie but the gigantic effort gone in its making should be applauded. It is to be liked by all the Cricket lovers of India for sure whether they belong to the older generation or the newer generation. It is also to be acknowledged that it's meant for those only who understand and like the game of Cricket.
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