Kabir Khan: Classic story to distinguish jingoism from patriotism

Ranveer Singh with his co-stars in the film

Kabir Khan could have well pursued an OTT release for 83. But that wouldn't come close to how he had envisioned the ambitious film playing out. After all, the filmmaker wants "theatres to turn into stadiums" when Team India comes on screen. So, after a "frustrating" wait of almost 20 months, Khan is ready to revisit the 1983 Cricket World Cup on the big screen with the Ranveer Singh-starrer. "The real story lies off the pitch. Everybody knows what happened on the pitch. A sports story shouldn't be about sports; it should be about the triumph of human beings. The challenge for the filmmaker is how to make the [World Cup] journey exciting. How can you [make the audience] root for them, or feel nervous when they are in a tight spot? I want people to discover what we went through to pick up that World Cup," says the director.

Kabir Khan

The victory at the Prudential Cup 1983 remains one of the biggest milestones in Indian sports history. When offering a retelling of the iconic feat, one may tend to adopt a jingoistic tone. But Khan assures that his sensibilities wouldn't allow him that. "Ideologies are in-built. I would never go jingoistic. 83 is the classic story to be able to distinguish jingoism from true patriotism. I believe patriotism is a celebration of a country where you don't need an enemy; jingoism needs a counterpoint. In 83, there are opponents, but they are not enemies. Our boys played only for the country. To see how they made every Indian proud is what I call true patriotism."

Building the on-screen Team India was not an easy process. The director, however, says that Singh was his first choice to portray then-captain Kapil Dev. "Not in a million years would Ranveer and Kapil Dev look alike. But Ranveer is a chameleon. He changes his voice, body language and expressions. That's what he has done [to become] Kapil Dev. One of the first things I told Ranveer was, ‘This is not a look-alike contest. You need to adopt his personality.' Today people are going crazy, saying he looks like Kapil Dev."