Kabir Khan: Ranveer Singh needs to retain his identity while playing Kapil

In his upcoming directorial venture 83 which is based on Indias first Cricket World Cup win in 1983 filmmaker Kabir Khan says his attempt is to let Ranveer Singh adapt the persona of veteran cricketer Kapil Dev yet retain his identityUnderdog India outclassed mighty West Indies by 43 runs in the final played at the Lords on June 25 1983 to lift their maiden World Cup under Devs leadership Audience knows he is Ranveer and he is going to play the role of Kapil Dev in the film Today there is technology to make Ranveer look exactly like him but that is not the attemptRanveer SinghHe needs to get the persona of Dev and yet retain his identity as Ranveer We want the audience to see and enjoy Ranveer playing Dev Kabir told PTI in an interview He said Ranveer has already begun preparations for his role in the filmIt is a simple brief to Ranveer He just has to see Kapil Dev playing the game The iconic body language of Kapil Dev the way he used to bowl bat He Dev is monitoring it training he addedKabir said the members of the 1983 World Cup team are set to supervise and coach the rest of the actors Several members of the 1983 World Cup winning team including manager Man Singh were present at a function when the director announced the projectThe team members such as Roger Binny K Srikkanth Madan Lal Yashpal Sharma Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Sandeep Patil had narrated some anecdotes dating back to the historic day Kabir added he would not need to take cinematic liberities during the filming as there is lot of material we have hours and hours of sessions with the cricketers the players so it is a gold mine of materialThe Bajrangi Bhaijaan helmer said the team would be majorly shot in London and they have the support of cricket authorities like the ICC and BCCI We will be shooting mostly in London the whole story is what happened in London We cant shoot for seveneight days at Lords it is not possible But we do have the permission in place to shoot thereThe whole cricket community from all over the world whether it is the ICC or BCCI is helping It is such a celebratory story about cricket that any cricketing body would like to support it Kabir said The makers are yet to rope in actors who would essay the role of other team membersCasting director Mukesh Chhabra is currently busy scouting for talent We are casting not only for the Indian team but West Indies as well We have to cast for Sir Viv Richards and all the greats So there will be lot of foreign actorsThere is no leading lady as such in the normal way that we look at Indian cinema It is a true story about a team so obviously their wives will be there they are central characters he saidCatch up on all the latest Mumbai National and International news hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the goExcept for the headline this story has not been edited by midday online This story is published from a syndicated feed