'83

Look first it's a docudrama, which means everyone has to look and act like a real life Indian cricketer. This is a technically well made movie. You see some actual real cricket action not just patched up shots of someone bowling and someone batting. They have tried to recreate the same play sequences as much as possible. So the ball seams or spins or swings as was seen on the live telecast.

The West Indian actors as cricketers were good and they plugged in quite well to the narrative. Well they got Malcolm Marshall's son to play as him no wonder it looked very realistic.

Yes there are the usual cliches and some history lessons and a tiny bit of melodrama you would expect in any Bollywood movie but it keeps you entertained.

If you hate cricket don't bother as that's what 90% of the movie is about. There aren't any silly song sequences and traditional melodramas.

Jiiva as Srikanth and Ranveer as Kapil Dev are simply great.

All in all an entertaining fare and this should serve as an impetus for other sports movies as well.

25th June 1983 is etched in the heart and mind of every Indian alive - it was the day of reckoning for Indian cricket, and I don't think that I shall be much wrong in claiming that this achievement turned the game into a cult in India. Written off by one and all as underdogs who had never won a World Cup cricket match except having beaten East Africa in one of the matches in the previous two versions, no one had any expectations from India. But the victory and the subsequent photos emerging from Lords with Kapil Dev receiving the much coveted trophy and holding it high with the team, gave a new dimension and pillar to the national pride. The game still belonged to gentlemen those days, and the exuberance of the achievement was a muted, dignified and graceful celebration, without the chest beating and physically expressive stuff we have gotten used to seeing now.

So when director Kabir Khan announced 83, the expectations from the movie soared. 83 is therefore saddled, whether Khan likes it or not, a billion different objectives, views, opinions, desires and elements of national pride that varies widely. For some, it's the players, and for others it would be the team, spirit, character, grit, emotions, and the list is endless. The story has a foregone conclusion and hence Kabir Khan was entrusted to give the victory a dimension that's perhaps hitherto unknown to our generation and beyond. The good news is that he succeeds partially with it for the audience that lived the occasion, but scores hugely for Gen Y, the millennials and Gen Z, to whom 83 is a story of pride rising from the ashes, it's Phoenix all the way. We shall be contented with your swashbuckling presentation of the subject, Kabir Khan.

But critically speaking, 83 is far from Kabir Khan's legacy of films, and I cannot help comparing it to Shimit Amin's "Chak De India". Of course, the latter was a fictional story and Amin had the whole canvas to paint on, whilst 83 perhaps tied Khan's hands to a great extent with reality where creativity is concerned. Hard as he may have tried, it's very difficult to take Ranveer Singh out of Ranveer Singh and Kapil Dev has a lot of the actor infused into his character. The rest of the team is a whole lot of talented actors, but Khan didn't have too much meat for them. I thought the emotional journey of Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Vengsarkar, Sandeep Patil, Ravi Shastri, Sandhu, Valson and others also deserved a place, but then one can perhaps argue that 83 in that case would have become a miniseries and not a film. I agree. The music isn't inspiring and I didn't bring back any of the songs. Cricket wasn't technically great - too much focus on the ground banter, clichéd shot making techniques and stock clips of fielding (read players slumping on the ground failing to stop boundaries) make the game uninspiring.

But what I brought back home is what Sandhu said after his engagement had broken off by his fiancee due to his small home and paltry earnings - he compared himself to engineers and doctors and felt inferior. That was 83! Forty years later, tge present Indian cricket players can roll on the floor laughing at that economic plight. Oh cricket! How you've turned things on the head!

The movie is the experience of the 1983 Cricket World Cup winning team. The good thing is none of the characters are vilified for the sake of 'antagonist' and everything is represented in the realms of Sports Drama. There are moments that make it emotional and make you cry. Kabir Khan and Ranveer Singh have pulled off a fantastic magic here. Do watch in theatres!!

For those who have lived through the 83 times, it will be a memorable reminder of what the feelings were in India at that time. For those who were born just within the decade of 83 it will serve as a showcase for the events that we have heard off and the legends that we have seen. For the kids and teenagers who are following the cricket of today, this movie shows how the game became a second nature to most Indians and how the glamorous game was once a pale event.

Every generation has something to take away from the movie. Yes, it could have been better, but given the fact that it is coming from a director and a production house which wanted to make a mass-entertainer, it has done a great job.

Ranveer almost becomes Kapi Dev and you won't remember him any other way towards the end of the movie. The rest of the cast has also done a superb job with Jeeva, Pankaj and Hardy taking easily the attention away. The game itself has been shot brilliantly. If you are lucky to be among a jubilant crowd in the theater it will be a much exhilarating experience.

Go watch! Ignore the negative reviews. This story needs to be told for the current generation.

I don't mind telling that I dislike Ranveer Singh as an actor. But he gained respect in my eyes with this role. He embodied "Kapil dev" in every way, his mannerisms, accent, bowling style. I was in the 10th standard when this World cup took place. Until then just like the English commentator, I didn't think India was capable of doing anything great. After that day when India lifted the World cup high, I believed we can achieve anything as a country as long as we have the belief and discipline. Kabir the director was able to capture that emotion and pride, I and millions of Indians felt that day in this movie. The actor who played Indira Gandhi was a spitting image of our late PM. Deepika seem to be an after thought when it came to casting. Except for Binny/Srikanth/Kirmani l do wish the rest of the cast were closer in looks/style to the original players. With the West Indies team it got more confusing as there were very less similarities to the original team.

I realize a fictional sports movie, is much more well received than a factual movie because in fiction you can add exaggerations to bolster the scenes while in a factual movie you are bound by facts.

Had this movie done well it would have been a perfect homage to the national heroes who put India on the international cricketing map. That was the foundation stone on which today's Indian team and their achievement stand on. Jai Hind !!!