Ranveer Singh essayed the role of Kapil Dev in 83. (Photo: Ranveer Singh/Instagram) Filmmaker Kabir Khan spoke about the theatrical performance of his recent film 83, and said that a conversation with Kapil Dev kept him going even as states were imposing new restrictions that were massively affecting the film’s box office performance.
In an interview with Film Companion, the director admitted that he was dejected by the daily restrictions, but not once considered releasing the film directly on streaming. He said that 83 will continue playing on big screens even if only two are running.
“There are definitely moments of despair and disappointment, when everyday you wake up and read about another state going down, another state shutting down theatres, another state putting a night curfew. So, yes, there are moments of disappointment. But I never got to the position of feeling low just because of the sheer love that was coming our way. The whole day you’d end up just reading messages,” he said.
Kabir continued, “Kapil sir, on the fourth day, when Delhi shut down, and it was like, let’s fight back, he said, ‘Kabir, you’ve already got your World Cup. This film that you’ve made is your World Cup. When we won the World Cup, we didn’t get money, we got respect, and it is because of that respect you made this film on us.'”
The filmmaker recalled that the former India cricket captain told him to ‘forget about the money,’ and focus on the positivity that was coming his way.
Based on Team India’s underdog victory at the 1983 cricket World Cup, 83 stars Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev. It also features an ensemble cast that includes Saqib Saleem, Harrdy Sandhu, Ammy Virk, Sahil Khattar, Chirag Patil, Jiiva, Pankaj Tripathi, Deepika Padukone, and more. Released in December, 83 has inched past the Rs 100 crore mark domestically, according to Kabir, and is closing in on the Rs 200 crore mark internationally.
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