India’s ‘83 Win Is a Human Story That Must Be Told: Ranveer Singh

The cricket buff inside Ranveer Singh meets the legends of cricket for Kabir Khan’s 83.

Actor Ranveer Singh and the heroes of India’s world cup win of 1983, got together for the launch of Kabir Khan’s upcoming sports film‘83 and it was an afternoon filled with memories and embarrassing anecdotes. Watch the full event here-

I was born in 1985, I was born in a in a time when cricket was already the biggest thing, it was already the number one sport in our country. But I didn’t know the back story. But when Kabir Khan came and started narrating the story, that this is how it happened, my reaction was like, no... no... no, really? It was so shocking and surprising to learn the odds against which these gentlemen had to fight and rise against for the greatest sports triumph. More than a great sports story, more than a great cricket story, it’s a great human story. 

Ranveer Singh, Actor

Ranveer will be essaying the role of Kapil Dev in the film and his inspiration had a ton of stories to share on stage.

I was from an agriculture background and my teammates were from cultured backgrounds. So my agriculture used to come into the way I spoke. When we started playing, cricket used to be played in English. So the first time I was made captain, I suggested they called someone from Oxford university to speak as captain, and I’ll get the job done on the field. 

Kapil Dev, Cricketer

In fact, Ranveer Singh tells an interesting story about how he has Jimmy to thank for his thriving Bollywood career. The stories and anecdotes didn’t stop coming when the cricketing legends came up on stage and shared memories of their glorious win.

Krishnamachari Srikanth started off with the honest truth and some leg pulling at Kapil Dev’s expense. But he credits the ‘83 victory to no one but him.

We won the world cup because of one man. the man who had so much self belief, Kapil Dev. 

Krishnamachari Srikanth, Former Cricketer

The legendary Mohinder Amarnath, Yashpal Sharma, Sandip Patil welcomed Kabir Khan and Ranveer Singh into their cricket family.

One of the most interesting/entertaining events I've attended. The dream team that won the World Cup shared some amazing episodes. #Relive83 pic.twitter.com/vQhrMREIP1

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) September 27, 2017

Our manager put me and Sunil Gavaskar int he same room. I used to practice in the night, he used to practice during the day. So whenever I came into the room he was sleeping. The best thing that happened during the world cup of ‘83 was our captain and his angrezi ka bhoot. He used to speak in English at every given opportunity and he still does that.

Sandeep Patil, Former Cricketer

Ranveer was in splits as the legends shared anecdotes from the country’s golden sports era. As Kabir Khan stepped on stage, one could feel that this combination of the greatest cricketing moment and Bollywood is bound to be a blockbuster.

Honestly you know, once in a lifetime a filmmaker gets a story that every pore in his or her body screams out to make that film and I can say that without any doubt in my mind that this is that story in my life. This is a story that should never be forgotten and honestly when I was watching this match as a young child, when you went and picked up that world cup, I didn’t realise the implications of this. I didn’t realise that cricket is going to change forever since that day. 

Kabir Khan, Filmmaker