The making of 83

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 madeCanrsquot wait for Christmas EveDecember 10 2021 The same socalled discouraging father seems like he canrsquot wait for Christmas Eve to dawn Not to make plans to bring in the festival but for the release of 83 the film on Indiarsquos epic 1983 Prudential World Cup triumphChirag the only son who plays his father in the India lineup for the Kabir Khandirected film is not an established star in the film industry Hersquos 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 seventhChirag Patil at the Lordrsquos Cricket Ground in LondonHow did he get the chance to play Sandeep who scored two matchwinning half centuries in the tournament 50 against Zimbabwe at Leicester and 51 not out in the semifinals against England at Manchester apart from being the second highest scorer in the final against the West Indies with a 29ball 27 ldquoThere 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 couldnrsquot 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 itrdquo says Chirag Sandeep stresses ldquoI have many friends in the film industry but I have never spoken to any director about giving Chirag rolesrdquoSandeep acted in a movie right in the midst of his playing daysmdashKabhie Ajnabi Themdashsigned in 1982 released in 1985After the function to announce 83 Sandeeprsquos teammate Balvinder Singh Sandhu whose involvement in the film has been deep happened to view one of Chiragrsquos 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 ldquoI 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 Chhabrarsquos office at Aram Nagar Versova There is a small ground there When they gave me a bat I thought to myself Irsquom doomed They set up five cameras and I was bowled off the first ball Next twothree deliveries the same result I returned home and told dad that it didnrsquot go well and that they only saw me bat not actrdquoConvinced 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 ldquoKabir sir surprised me by saying lsquoI think you are perfect for the part and wersquod like to sign yoursquo He had seen onfield footage of my audition He juxtaposed footage of dad and me and said to me lsquoYour style is the same as dad Irsquom not saying 100 per cent but 7080 per cent Itrsquos in your DNAhellipthat stance the way you play a shot the way you walk your gestureshellipIrsquom finding big similaritiesrsquo I too then realised that yes I am similar to dadrdquo says ChiragChallenges aplentySandeep knew that there would be challenges aplenty on the technical side for Chirag ldquoBut 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 helpedrdquo says SandeepNet sessions organised by the film producers under the watchful eyes of Sandhu and lengthy sessions at Chandrakant Panditrsquos academy in Andheri supervised by coach Nilesh Bhosle helped Chirag tune up for the cricket action in 83 Getting the slight hunch in Sandeeprsquos stance was tough and painful He still endures the effects of the neck compression he developed while bending for that Sandeep Patil hunch ldquoKabir sir said to us lsquoYou 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 Irsquom not getting it for some reason Your body has to be prepared to take punishmentrdquo says ChiragPerfectionSandeep nods appreciating the effort Chirag and his costars have made to achieve perfection Then he smiles to remark ldquoI think we didnrsquot 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 Irsquove 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 filmrdquoSandeep may have been overly cynical about Chiragrsquos 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 ldquoAlthough those films have not been super hits his work has been good Irsquom very happy that he hasnrsquot given up Hersquos not doing it to be a superstar but hersquos enjoying his work which is so importantrdquo says Sandeep Chiragrsquos career may have just got a major boost through 83 but he hasnrsquot forgotten the strugglesHowever 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 highprofile 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 itThe work gone into 83 has placed the fatherson 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 way216No of runs scored by Sandeep Patil in eight matches during the 1983 World Cup