Exclusive! Tahir Raj Bhasin on 83: Met Sunil Gavaskar just a week before the shoot

Tahir Raj Bhasin was recently seen as Sunil Gavaskar in Kabir Khanrsquos 83 a film that showed the chronicles of the Indian Cricket Team that surprised one and all with their triumph in the 1983 World Cup The film has received overwhelmingly positive response from all quartersIn an exclusive interview with middaycom Tahir talks about this recently released film the preparations he went through to get the nuances of Sunil Gavaskar right the parallels he sees with his another sportsdrama Chhichhore and what viewers can expect from his upcoming projectsQ 1 Your film Chhichhore talks about giving your best shot irrespective of winning or losing 83 talks about winning against all odds Which thought do you believe in more Thatrsquos a very interesting question I feel as themes they both intersect in not giving up and going against all odds Even in Chhichhore the odds were stacked against them and even in 83 The overall umbrella theme would be that if no one believes in you society or the people you know you will triumph if you believe in yourself Thatrsquos something Irsquove used in my career Therersquos a very interesting intersection of both the films because in Chhichhore Derek wins the race but loses the tournament in 83 Sunil Gavaskar may not be at his best but wins the tournament so the opposite things were happening No one has asked me this before this is the first time Irsquom saying this It was interesting to do this because itrsquos the opposites that have happenedQ 2 Meeting Sunil Gavaskar and spending time with him to prepare for your role must have been a very surreal experienceIt was yes Irsquove been prepping for this role for about six or seven months I hadnrsquot met him until then Just a week before the shoot I actually met him He has a very charming and powerful aura when he walks into the room Hersquos incredibly stylish very composed and generous with the kind of inputs he was giving of how much his family meant to him how much his mother influenced him of how much the country meant to him He opened up about his personal beliefs and personal psychology that helped me portray him with some authenticityQ3 How similar do you feel you and Sunil Gavaskar are The one similarity I found after I read his book Sunny Days was that he has constantly worked on himself He wanted to give his best he was his only competition and thatrsquos something thatrsquos very similar When I look at myself my competition is with what my previous wasQ 4 Yoursquore always very calm in your movies even though the situation around you may be chaotic Are you the same in real life Not at all Irsquom hyper and Irsquom a romantic and Irsquom very lighthearted When people have only seen me on screen and want to have a conversation with me they are very scared so Irsquom completely the opposite Since yoursquove brought it up the film Irsquom doing next called Loop Lapeta with Taapsee Pannu the character Irsquom playing is closest to who I amQ 5 How much time did you all take to gel with one another and get to know each other during 83About 67 months All of us came from different parts of the country Me and Harrdy Sandhu came from the North Jiiva came from the South Adinath and Chirag are from the Marathi film industry All of us individually workshopped for about a month or two on cricket and then we came together and spent five months together Even when we were in the UK we traveled in the same bus we stayed in the same hotel It was a like a school or college trip and thatrsquos where a lot of the bonding happened off setQ 6 How long did it take for you all to shoot the climax Itrsquos a bit of a spoiler but it takes place on multiple locations in those cuts so it was shot over a period of two months but for us on one day we were running on field as cricketers on one day we were lifting the trophy Extensively for all the parts thatrsquos a question for Kabir KhanQ 7 A lot of questions were raised on the Indian Cricket Team when they aspired to win the World Cup in 1983 Did anyone question your decision when you said you want to be an actorInteresting question Not question but I would definitely say concern The industry is such therersquos no sure shot route of how are you going to do it how will you get your film So people were concerned that Kaise Karega My answer always was that Irsquoll do it Irsquoll find my way If you have mindnumbing belief in what you do you can manifest your realityQ 8 You have very interesting lineup of projects like Loop Lapeta Ranjish Hi Sahi Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen What can we expect Complete transition in the kind of parts Irsquom doing Itrsquos a transition to main lead parts itrsquos a transition to romantic dramas and all three very different from each other Loop Lapeta is a heist film with a hint of quirky romance thatrsquos opposite Taapsee Pannu whorsquos a phenomenal performer Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen is on Netflix thatrsquos a very stylised romantic drama that becomes a psychological thriller As the title suggests it also has a Bollywood pulp aspect to it Itrsquos opposite Shweta Tripathi who has done some incredible work in Masaan and Mirzapur And of course Ranjish Hi Sahi Mahesh Bhatt is the creative director Itrsquos a period drama set in the 70s and is based on the behindthescenes of Bollywood Irsquove spent two years shooting for these projects and due to the pandemic post production was delayed Irsquom excited that the audience is going to see diverse kind of roles all by the same actor I hope the audiences appreciate them