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(Although the film will be released on 24th December, 2021, Film Information is making a departure from tradition and uploading the review three days earlier because the producers have NOT put an embargo on reviews and, in fact, have requested that the review be published/uploaded before release.)
Reliance Entertainment, Phantom Films, Vibri Media, KA Productions, Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment and Kabir Khan Films’ 83 is based on the story of India’s first Cricket World Cup victory in 1983.
Captain Kapil Dev (Ranveer Singh) has a daunting task in his hands when he lands in England with his team and manager, P.R. Man Singh (Pankaj Tripathi). Neither the other teams in contention nor the world media considers the Indian team worthy enough to even reach the finals, leave alone winning the World Cup. In fact, India’s performance in several matches leading up to the semi-finals is dismal, to say the least. How, despite all the odds, Kapil Dev leads India to win the World Cup is the crux of the story.
Sanjay Puransingh Chauhan and Kabir Khan have written a story based on the 1983 World Cup, and it has excitement, thrill, patriotism, drama, melodrama, comedy, camaraderie, sportsmanship and lots more. Like the 1983 World Cup Cricket was, the story of the film is also full of excitement and thrill. The screenplay, penned by Kabir Khan, Vasan Bala and Sanjay Puransingh Chauhan, is extraordinary. It holds the audience’s interest from the start till the end, never letting the grip go off for even a single moment. The game of cricket itself comes with a lot of thrill and fun. Added to that are the entertaining elements added by the screenplay writers with individual tracks of some of the players, and the interactions of the players on and off the field — some real, some written by taking cinematic liberties. The best thing which the writers have done is to keep the thread of patriotic fervour intact right from the word ‘go’. There are scores of scenes in which the chest of the viewer swells with pride. Since the spirit of patriotism in such a drama is akin to emotions, the screenplay is replete with emotions for the motherland. The light moments are extremely enjoyable and evoke laughter at many places. Talking about the screenplay, there are many scenes which stand out for their sheer brilliance. The scene in which the little child (Advait Shukla), perched on his young father’s shoulders, waves the Indian flag in the midst of the West Indies flags, is masterly. It will draw tears from the eyes of the weak-hearted just like it moistens the eyes of the Indian cricket team members. Similarly, the scene of police officers watching the cricket match with a Muslim family in Nawabpur tugs at the heart strings. The scenes of Indian cricketers playing as if it’s a do-or-die situation for them also evokes emotions of a different kind in the audience. The scene in which K. Srikkanth makes a speech in front of the foreign journalist is another one which deserves distinction marks for its writing. Of course, the thrill which the viewers experience in the climax is absolutely crazy. The audience will shout, scream, whistle, clap and cry watching the Indian team romp home victorious. It will be a scene of unimaginable madness in the cinema halls!
Dialogues, written by Kabir Khan and Sumit Arora, are superb. Yes, there is a very liberal use of English in the dialogues but that may not restrict the film’s appeal much, because people are used to understanding English commentary when it comes to cricket.
Ranveer Singh delivers a sixer of a performance. He plays Kapil Dev to perfection and acts with such aplomb that he could easily pick up awards for the best actor this year. He has worked extremely hard on his looks, gait, attitude, speech, mannerisms — and all to great advantage. Ranveer proves once again that he is one of the best actors we have today! Oftentimes, his silence says a lot. As for his dialogues spoken in broken English, well, they will evoke laughter. Deepika Padukone has a brief role but she stands out for her supremely glamorous looks and her dignified performance as Romi Dev. Pankaj Tripathi is fantastic as team manager P.R. Man Singh. His light scenes (especially the scenes of his telephone conversations to change the air tickets of the Indian team) are very enjoyable. Ammy Virk is outstanding as Balvinder Singh Sandhu. The man’s sincerity and integrity are evident in every scene and every movement/gesture of his. Jiva is absolutely first-rate as K. Srikkanth. Jatin Sarna does a phenomenal job as Yashpal Sharma. Saqib Saleem does well as Mohinder Amarnath. Nishant Dahiya has his moments in the role of Roger Binny. Hardy Sandhu is very good as Madan Lal. Tahir Raj Bhasin is effective as Sunil Gavaskar. Sahil Khattar makes his presence felt in the role of Syed Kirmani. Adinath Kothare is endearing as Dilip Vengsarkar. Boman Irani is lovely as the commentator. Chirag Patil (as Sandeep Patil), Dhairya Karwa (as Ravi Shastri), Dinker Sharma (as Kirti Azad) and R. Badree (as Sunil Valson) provide decent support. Wamiqa Gabbi looks pretty and acts well as Anu, wife of Madan Lal. Parvathi Nair makes a fine impression as Pammie Gavaskar. Sheryl Bennett is cute as Vidhya Srikkanth. Aditi Arya is very good as Bikkoo. Samreen Kaur (as Simran, fiancée of Balvinder Singh Sandhu) looks beautiful and does justice to her role. Rajiv Gupta does a splendid job as journalist Mishra. Neeraj Sood and Brijendra Kala lend very good support as members of the Cricket Board. Mohinder Amarnath is impressive as Lala Amarnath. Avantika Akerkar leaves a wonderful mark as Indira Gandhi. Advait Shukla is cute and very natural as the little child. Ashok Banthia and Rajiv Khanna are adequate as the ministers. Chandramouli Kalyanachakravarthy (as Mr. Natarajan), Rajie Vijay Sarathy (as Mrs. Natarajan) and Swetha Vinod (as Kalyani Natarajan) are lovely. Anjum Batra (as Kulwant Singh Toor), Happy Sharma (as Gill), Saif Ansari (as the boy on the roof in Nawabpur), Habib Azmi (as the man in the house in Nawabpur), Sunita (as the mother of the boy in Nawabpur), Rahul Khanna (as the JCO-Subedar), Baharul Islam (as the Major), Satish Alekar (as S.K. Wankhede), Jitendra Kumar Rai (as the young father of the little child) and the others lend excellent support.
Kabir Khan deserves the highest praise for his direction. The film must not have been easy to shoot and edit but the final product he has delivered is a masterpiece in the true sense of the term. He has adopted a narrative style which makes the drama extremely entertaining. Some of the intercuts he uses between the game of cricket are master strokes. His handling of the subject shows his passion for both, cinema and cricket. Pritam’s music is fantastic. ‘Lehra do’ and ‘Jeetega jeetega’ are outstanding numbers. The other songs are also lovely and go well with the film’s mood. Lyrics (Kausar Munir and Jaideep Sahni) are excellent and abound in patriotic flavour. Background music (by Julius Packiam; additional background music by Pritam) is a a major highlight of the film. In many scenes, the background score gives the audience goosebumps. Aseem Mishra’s cinematography also deserves high praise. It was not easy to capture the thrill as well as the emotions of the game with such finesse but Mishra has done that with the ease of a genius. Amaar Shetty’s action and thrills are simply superb. Production designing (by Acropolis (Rajnish Hedao) and Paul Rowan) is top-notch. Nitin Baid’s editing is outstanding. As mentioned earlier, it must not have been easy at all to edit the film, but Baid has done a fantastic job of it.
On the whole, 83 is a blockbuster of epic proportions. Cricket lovers will, of course, go ga ga over the film, but even those who are not fans of cricket will adore the film for the entertainment it offers. Some films are made to write history. 83 is one such film! It will be remembered for years to come.
The film will release on 24-12-’21 at Inox (daily 10 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PVR Pictures Ltd. Publicity: excellent. …….Also to be released all over.