The making of 83

Sandeep Patil with his son Chirag at their residence on Friday. Pic/Ashish Rane

In 1998, Chirag Patil, 11, sets out for cricket practice for his school King George, Dadar. Dad, the former India cricket star Sandeep, happens to be at their Shivaji Park home in the midst of his coaching career. Patil Sr tells wife Deepa that Chirag should not waste his time playing cricket. Reason: He was holding his bat like a broomstick. The couple argue about it, but the decision has been made.

Can't wait for Christmas Eve

December 10, 2021. The same so-called discouraging father seems like he can't wait for Christmas Eve to dawn. Not to make plans to bring in the festival, but for the release of 83, the film on India's epic 1983 Prudential World Cup triumph.

Chirag, the only son who plays his father in the India line-up for the Kabir Khan-directed film, is not an established star in the film industry. He's no spring chicken either. One can trace a sense of pride when he says that 14 films from the 26 he has signed have been shot. Six have been released, 83 will be the seventh.

Chirag Patil at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London

How did he get the chance to play Sandeep, who scored two match-winning half centuries in the tournament (50 against Zimbabwe at Leicester and 51 not out in the semi-finals against England at Manchester) apart from being the second highest scorer in the final against the West Indies with a 29-ball 27? "There was a function at JW Marriott, Juhu, to announce the film. I was there because dad was part of it and there was no question of thinking that I would be selected for a part. After all, I couldn't play cricket. Kabir [Khan] was sitting on a table with us, but he did not mention anything about a role. Nor did I ask him. But my mom kept telling me that I should do it," says Chirag. Sandeep stresses: "I have many friends in the film industry, but I have never spoken to any director about giving Chirag roles."

Sandeep acted in a movie right in the midst of his playing days - Kabhie Ajnabi The - signed in 1982; released in 1985.

After the function to announce 83, Sandeep's teammate Balvinder Singh Sandhu, whose involvement in the film has been deep, happened to view one of Chirag's movies on Zee Cinema. He realised that he could be the ideal man to play Sandeep. Chirag got called for an audition in January 2018. "I thought they will give a script to speak like dad, so I prepared myself for that by watching some of his interviews. Dad only told me that if you are going for the audition, dress up in cricket whites and take your kit bag. The audition was held at Mukesh Chhabra's office at Aram Nagar, Versova. There is a small ground there. When they gave me a bat, I thought to myself, I'm doomed. They set up five cameras and I was bowled off the first ball. Next two-three deliveries, the same result. I returned home and told dad that it didn't go well and that they only saw me bat, not act."

Convinced that there would be no role for him, Chirag spent the next couple of months focusing his energies on other projects. Out of the blue, a call comes from Khan, asking Chirag to come over for a meeting. "Kabir sir surprised me by saying, ‘I think you are perfect for the part and we'd like to sign you.' He had seen on-field footage of my audition. He juxtaposed footage of dad and me and said to me, ‘Your style is the same [as dad]. I'm not saying 100 per cent, but 70-80 per cent. It's in your DNA…that stance, the way you play a shot, the way you walk, your gestures…I'm finding big similarities.' I too then realised that yes, I am similar to dad," says Chirag.

Challenges aplenty

Sandeep knew that there would be challenges aplenty on the technical side for Chirag. "But I was quite confident that he will sort them out. A few adjustments were needed to get the flick shot and my favourite square drive on one knee. I only advised him to hold a 12 inches plastic scale and keep flicking his wrists and it helped," says Sandeep.

Net sessions organised by the film producers under the watchful eyes of Sandhu and lengthy sessions at Chandrakant Pandit's academy in Andheri supervised by coach Nilesh Bhosle helped Chirag tune up for the cricket action in 83. Getting the slight hunch in Sandeep's stance was tough and painful. He still endures the effects of the neck compression he developed while bending for that Sandeep Patil hunch. "Kabir sir said to us, ‘You will have to play one shot probably 100 times. If I want the original shot where the bowler is running in, bowling and you are hitting, it could be that I'm not getting it for some reason. Your body has to be prepared to take punishment," says Chirag.

Perfection

Sandeep nods, appreciating the effort Chirag and his co-stars have made to achieve perfection. Then he smiles to remark, "I think we didn't work so hard to become world champions in 1983 like these guys have done. We had a week to prepare while these guys spent eight months in India and then three months in the UK to get every aspect right. I've not seen the film, but I know that if one of us had even a wrinkle on our face, the filmmakers wanted that to be shown in the film. And if there were two blokes chatting near a tree at a ground in the original footage, they wanted to recreate that for the film."

Sandeep may have been overly cynical about Chirag's cricketing pursuits in 1998, but when he saw the first of his 14 completed films, he knew Chirag had a future in the film world. "Although those films have not been super hits, his work has been good. I'm very happy that he hasn't given up. He's not doing it to be a superstar, but he's enjoying his work which is so important," says Sandeep. Chirag's career may have just got a major boost through 83, but he hasn't forgotten the struggles.

However, those frustrating times, he feels, have contributed in making him tougher and being more confident in front of the camera, facing a big star like Ranveer Singh (who plays Kapil Dev in 83) and a high-profile director like Khan. Chirag also tells us how he took a few friends to watch his fourth Hindi film, Wake Up India in a theatre only to see it struck off for the day because there were not enough people to watch it.

The work gone into 83 has placed the father-son duo in a sphere of optimism, a far cry to that 1998 situation with Chirag now holding his piece of willow as it were the right way.

216
No. of runs scored by Sandeep Patil in eight matches during the 1983 World Cup