'83: Kapil Dev recalls watching Ranveer Singh's film for first time, says, 'It didn't impact me much' but second time, left him emotional

Ranveer Singh-led film '83 has been one of the most talked-about films recently. The film has been heaping praising for letting cricket fans in the country relive the historic win. After a long theatrical run, the film has now made its way to OTT. It is now available to stream on Netflix.

To mark its premiere on the streaming platform, Netflix released an interview of Kapil Dev, the former Indian cricket captain, under whose leadership, India got its first World Cup. Kapil paaji, as he is fondly called, shares some lesser-known tidbits and scenes that did not make it to the film, in a conversation with Gaurav Kapur.   

Kapil Dev talked about how the players would go to Indian families' houses for food during their stay in London as they barely had any money. He recalled a player would call everybody to their friends or relatives' houses for food. Though they would be embarrassed to go, they still go as they had no money to otherwise buy food. "Now, we people keep a watch on their calories intake but we used to think only about food and never worry about calories. Indian families there were very sweet. Though we would feel embarrassed, we would still go. At least, kahin se to khana mil raha hai. Jeb mein tab paise nahi the," he said.  

He further said that the most beautiful part of the World Cup journey was their bus rides with just the players. Everyone would have their own choice of music and movies and whoever gets an opportunity would put cassettes in the player and play them. Some preferred action flicks while some wanted to watch films like Padosan, he said.

The former cricketer also recalled watching the film for the first time. He wanted to watch the film with the entire team, even though he had a chance to watch its first cut and later edit as well. "When I watched it for the first time, it did not impact me much but when I saw it for the second time, I got so emotional that I couldn't stop crying," he said that everyone on the film's team has done a fabulous job and his respect for the film industry has increased after watching the movie. 

He said 98 per cent of the things shown in the film are true and they have been shown with great detailing. Only a few characters and scenes are different but the story is the same. He cited examples of Shrikant's winking habit and the little boy who cheered for the Indian team. Kapil revealed that the child was actually a boy from West Indies. He used to say right from the beginning that India would win. 

Kapil further said that he was also worried about the well-being of the actors as they would keep practicing for hours together every day. He was worried if they would suffer from any injury but he later understood their passion, which he says reflects on the screen very well. He is also happy that the film does not entirely focus on him but is about the team as per his request to Kabir Khan. 

The real-life '83 team has a WhatsApp group. When Gaurav who's the one who sends Good Morning messages in the group, Kapil says the members have decided not to do that and they just share what each member is up to. He said Sandeep Patil sends maximum jokes, some share their paintings while Roger Binny would share wildlife pictures of Karnataka. 

He ended the conversation on a great note, recalling the party with the film's team after the premiere. He said everyone was dancing till about 3 or 4 am and it felt like they were celebrating their World Cup win. He joked, "World cup jeetne ke baad party jab kar rahe the to darr tha ke bill kaun bharega. Is baar, jab hum hotel gaye movie dekhne ke baad, hum soch rahe the ke koi na koi bill bhar dega."

Catch the film '83 on Netflix now.