83 Movie Review: Ranveer Singh Finishes Off In Style, Kapil Dev Lifts The World Cup Turning Cinema Halls Into Stadiums!

December 20, 2021

430 5 minutes read

83 Movie Review Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars4.0

Star Cast: Kapil Dev… Oh sorry, Ranveer Singh, Pankaj Tripathi, Ammy Virk, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Jiiva, Saqib Saleem, Jatin Sarna, Chirag Patil, Dinker Sharma, Nishant Dahiya, Harrdy Sandhu, Sahil Khattar, Boman Irani, Adinath Kothare, Dhairya Karwa, Neena Gupta

Director: Kabir Khan

83 Movie Review(Photo Credit: Poster From 83)

What’s Good: This not only allows someone like Ranveer Singh to push his envelope of method acting but also helps actors like Ammy Virk, Jiiva, Jatin Sarna to exhibit different shades of their hidden skills

What’s Bad: Just like every ‘inspired by true events’ film, this one, too, takes certain cinematic liberties out of which some work in favour and some go against

Loo Break: It’s a long film, so bless your bladder and take the interval as a break

Watch or Not?: The only picture I wanted the makers to hold for a theatrical release was this (& Brahmastra), as expected filled with many very moments which only and only demand a theatrical release

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 162 Minutes

User Rating:

As conveyed before, more than being a biopic of Kapil Dev (Ranveer Singh) this film is about the ever-so-known historic feat of India’s first World Cup win that happened back in 1983. We see a team of underdogs in the Indian Cricket Team leaving for yet another world cup which most know is just a formality to continue the tradition of the English sport. The sentiment of ‘they’re not going to win’ is so strong that they have a return ticket booked beforehand of a date occurring even before the semi-finals.

In a surprising twist, the team of 11 dark horses go on to win the first two matches topping the leaderboard of their group. This incident didn’t just give birth to the hopes gir Indian cricket fans but also players like Sachin Tendulkar who went on to rewrite the history in the 2011 World Cup for the country. The rest of the film is about India’s roaring journey to the historic moment of Kapil Dev lifting the world cup.

83 Movie Review(Photo Credit: Still From 83)

83 Movie Review: Script Analysis

The story many know but it’s 83’s execution that shines to match the monumental emotions we as a country hold for the game. Kabir Khan along with Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan, Vasan Bala pens a story that milks every possible emotion from the details available about the event that’s etched into people’s memory.

Khan ropes in his trusted cinematographer Aseem Mishra (who has shot Khan’s every movie apart from Kabul Express) but this one is especially tough for him. It’s not at all easy to capture the pace of a 50-over game’s thrill in just a handful of minutes as that’s how long a match sequence would last. West Indies’ aggressive bowling is showcased brilliantly using some very neat slo-mo camera shots. As it should be, Khan chooses to showcase the best highlights of all the matches leading to a much-detailed euphoric finale.

Is it emotionally manipulative? Of course, it’s. Did I mind? Partially, yes but not when you experience the whole package. There still are scenes mentioning riots and sequences of the army asking the score from Muslim locals. Editor Nitin Baid manages to keep the film just about 2 hours 40 minutes and that’s just about okay for a whole lot of content we get to consume. Yes, there are multiple unwanted sequences added to bring in the comic relief but they add just to the total screentime.

83 Movie Review: Star Performance

Kapil Dev is not at all an easy character to get into the skin of given his extremely restricted personality and is the polar opposite to the virtues Ranveer Singh stands for. But, this makes clear one more thing, whatever Ranveer is off-screen, he could be anything on-screen. This only adds to the list of characters Ranveer Singh has nailed (read: shot) out of the stadium.

The entire Deepika Padukone as Kapil’s wife angle is noticeably to milk the brownie points from the fandom of both stars and it doesn’t serve any special purpose. Pankaj Tripathi continues the thing he does with every project he related to: make it better. The quirks given to PR Man Singh sits extremely well with Pankaj as he makes another addition to the list of mastered accents.

From the rest of the team, Ammy Virk (Balwinder Sandhu), Jiiva (Krishnamachari Srikkanth) & Jatin Sarna (Yashpal Sharma) stand out. Ammy’s innocence aides him in building the natural aura of Sandhu. Jiiva’s controlled impersonification of Cheeka allows him to stay well within lines not going caricaturish. He delivers a monologue with much ease keeping an impeccable hold of his flowing expressions.

83 Movie Review(Photo Credit: Still From 83)

83 Movie Review: Direction, Music

Kabir Khan takes a more predictable, conventional route in “what to show apart from what’s already known.” He doesn’t get into the backstory of Kapil Dev just because he had the chance and very smartly chooses to keep the scenes that would turn the audi into a stadium. Another smart thing he brings in is the way he chooses to mash up the real footage with the reel. From showing the real-life photos of the cricketers on the passport of the actors, to letting the audience in the film watch the visuals of the original match on their tv sets, this has bested of what we’ve seen in such films till now.

Pritam’s background score adds the required oomph to the already high-on-adrenaline visuals. Lehra Do & Jeetega Bhai Jeetega aptly do their job of boosting the drama of the team’s unpredictable journey. But none of the songs would be remembered as standalone songs as they’re designed to be extremely situational.

83 Movie Review: The Last Word

All said and done, Ranveer Singh & Kabir Khan have done it! They’ve taken us back to a time in which history was written, helping us to feel even a fraction of what every cricket lover must’ve felt on the evening of 25th June 1983.

Four stars!