Kabir Khan is ebullient as he wraps up a three-month shoot for his Ranveer Singh-starrer in London, bang on schedule
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 2, 2019)

On Sunday, Kabir Khan wrapped up a three-month schedule of his sports drama, ’83, in London, which features Ranveer Singh as then-skipper Kapil Dev who led Team India to its first cricket World Cup win in 1983. For the director and the team, it was an emotional moment as they had become close, like a family, during the shoot, and felt a sense of triumph after wrap-up, quite like the historic win. “It was like we had won the World Cup too,” Kabir laughs. “I knew ’83 was an ambitious film and we have achieved more than what we had planned.”

The director, who is also producing the film with Sajid Nadiadwala, Madhu Mantena, Shibasish Sarkar and Vishnu Induri, goes on to add that since logistically it was a difficult shoot, he airdashed to London every month for a year to work with the local production crew to get the required permissions. “Securing permissions to film at some places, like inside Lord’s cricket ground, was not easy. This is the first unit that has ventured into the players’ locker room and the long room there,” he points out, saying since they were recreating a real event, there was a lot of detailing involved in terms of locations and replications. “We had to make half of London look like it did in ’83. Shooting at Lord’s on the last day was magical.”

The film kicked off in London on June 5 and a major chunk of the shoot coincided with the 2019 World Cup. While many matches were interrupted by rain, Kabir’s screen journey was hassle-free. “We have been blessed by the Gods of cricket. We got so much goodwill from legends like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Jimmy Amarnath, Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Clive Lloyd that even the rain god helped us out,” Kabir exults. “When we were shooting interiors, it would rain the entire day, but the minute we stepped out, it would stop. It’s rare and next to impossible for anybody to complete a big shoot in the UK on time. On paper, we were to end on September 1, and we are done,” he signs off on an ebullient note.