Kabir Khan on the moment his leading man held the real 1983 trophy, recreating history with the sports-drama, and why the game superseded everything else for him
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 12, 2019)
Every sportsman preps up for months for a major sporting event. How long was yours?
Our prep took two years, my longest and most exhaustive, given that everything about the story had to be authentic. Even though 36 years have passed since India lifted the cricket World Cup for the first time, everyone over 40 recalls it. There’s footage available online.
Director Nitesh Tiwari says he’s looking forward to Kapil Dev’s 175 against Zimbabwe because while he’s seen the final many times on TV, he’s yet to see this historic innings.
No one except those present at the Nevill Ground at Tunbridge Wells have seen it. BBC was on strike on June 18, so the match was never recorded. There’s not a single second of footage available. It was a challenge to recreate it.
How did you do it?
From the few photographs and references, and by tapping into the memory bank of Kapil Dev, the players and old-timers, along with spectators who’d watched the match from different stands. If this was fiction, it’d be too far-fetched to be true because when Kapil Dev walked in, India’s top order – Sunil Gavaskar, (K) Srikkanth, Mohinder Amarnath, Sandeep Patil and Yashpal Sharma – was back in the pavilion with the scorecard reading 17 for 5. Thanks to his superhuman effort, we ended up with 266, and then, bowled out the opponents for 235. No one had seen a cricketer bat like that, before or after, not even Kapil sir. I’m glad I got to reconstruct his career highlight for the world to see.
Sunil Gavaskar says it was the greatest ODI knock he’s seen…
He called it a “game-changing innings” and when the interviewer alluded to the scorecard, he clarified that he didn’t mean just that game, it changed the game of cricket forever.
Your memories of the final?
We’d landed in Hyderabad that morning and I watched it with the family at my native home. I was still in school and didn’t understand why people came out on the streets to burst fireworks. Later I realised June 25, 1983 marked the coming-of-age not just of Indian cricket but of the country as well.
I approached ’83 as a documentary, going back to my journalism days to speak with anybody who had a story to tell. A senior barrister of Indian origin settled in the UK admitted that till June 25 he’d been just one of the boys at his tony public school. The day after our boys defeated favourites West Indies in their third consecutive World Cup final at Lords, he was being asked, “Hey, aren’t you an Indian?” Suddenly, it was cool to be one because we were the world champions. This win was a turnaround for the Indian diaspora.
How was it recreating that grand win on camera?
We shot for five days at the Lord’s stadium in London, entering the members-only Long Room where no camera had ventured before, the dressing rooms and locker rooms, then, stepped out on the balcony where the World Cup was presented to Kapil sir. And guess what? They brought out the real World Cup for Ranveer (Singh, who is playing Kapil Dev in the film) too. Overwhelmed, he broke down when I shouted “Cut”.
Among those on the balcony was also Clive Lloyd’s son who, like Gordan Greenidge and Malcolm Marshall’s sons, is playing his father in the film. We had legends like Kapil Dev, Gavaskar to Vivian Richards dropping by. That day, Clive Lloyd, captain of the ’83 West Indian team which had crashed to 140 all out to give Kapil us an unlikely win, was there to support his son. When we urged him to come closer, he quipped that he didn’t want to see the Cup being given away for the second time in his life.
Virat Kohli and his boys were the favourites to lift the World Cup this year, but they lost in the semis. Now, everyone’s looking to you to bring the World Cup home.
(Laughing) You are alluding to the memes that popped up the morning after India’s shocking defeat to New Zealand and put the smile back on our faces. We’d planned to take the day off to watch the final at Lord’s and were equally disappointed. On paper, we had the best squad ever, but World Cup is cricket at its best. And that makes our ’83 achievement even bigger because we were the lowest-ranked team and many believing India should be kept out of the competition as it’d bring down the standard of the game. Twenty-four-year-old Kapil Dev and his boys, many in their early 20s, were the underdogs who’d not won a single match in the history of the World Cup and fought against all odds to beat the reigning champs. That’s something not many know. They believe we were the superstars even then. I’m proud to chronicle this incredible journey of not just our icons, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, but also players like Madan Lal, Roger Binny and Yashpal Sharma, whose achievements have since been forgotten.
The weather played spoilsport for many teams, including India, during the recent World Cup. But it was a smooth run for you.
Yes, the weather Gods were kind; we had a 20-day schedule in Scotland and it rained for six days. On three of those six days, we were shooting indoors, the other three were off days. We did not lose a single day, everything from the cast to the locations to the action just fell into place seamlessly.
Everyone’s raving about Ranveer’s uncanny similarity with Kapil Dev in the film.
Look, for me, it was never a lookalike contest. For every character, I cast a person who matched the persona of the original. In the last few films, Ranveer’s lived his roles. It’s a rare gift he has, along with the effort he puts in. Even in our film, after 10 minutes you’ll forget it’s Ranveer on screen. With visual effects and prosthetics, I could have made him a replica of Kapil sir. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t about the look but whether he was convincing playing a cricketer through 45 days. At times, even Kapil sir’s daughter Amiya who is an AD on the film, would find it eerie. Even the rest of the boys trained in the sport for a year and for the squads of other countries, we roped in real cricketers because the game was top priority.
Deepika Padukone was cast as Romi Dev because she and Ranveer are a couple now…
No, she is a brilliant performer whom I have always adored and wanted to work with. We are lucky she came on board not just as an actor but as a producer too. Romi ma’am is a significant part of Kapil sir’s support system; Deepika embodies her energy effortlessly.
Two years of research and just two hours of screen time. You have enough left for a book…
Yes, a book is on the cards. So much happened during the tournament and we have so much research and visual material. I’ve made films before ’83 and I’ll make more after this, but this journey was unbelievable. I want to chronicle it for future generations.
We’ve heard that next up is a big action film with Sajid Nadiadwala.
I myself don’t know what I am doing next. Tubelight, ’83 and The Forgotten Army, all happened in close succession and after three hectic years, I want to take off for a while before I figure out which of the two-three ideas I’ll flag off.
Overwhelmed, Ranveer Singh broke down when I shouted “Cut”-Kabir Khan
