Some movies are personal, for they remind you of those few good memories from a painful past that you have buried deep within. 83, to even my surprise became one such movie. Once an ardent fan, I stopped watching cricket 13 years ago in 2009, one year after IPL was introduced which made cricket, the circus it is today. I was too young to understand how bad IPL would make International Cricket, so obviously, that wasn’t the reason. I only watched world cups after that year which also eventually stopped after 2014. So, when the 83 movie released, I decided not to watch it, as I thought neither the movie nor me had anything to give each other, I wasn’t even born when the 1983 world cup happened. I was so wrong, I gladly realized minutes into the movie. Once bit by the bug of the game, guess it remains no matter what.
I don’t remember when was the first time I watched a cricket game on TV, but I do remember the game from a very young age. The reason for that love was my Appa, it was our ‘thing’. We never played the game but watching the game together was one thing that bonded me and him along with music and movies. Pretty unconventional bond for a young girl from a small rural village in Kerala to develop with her father, in a time when the game was for men to bond. Weeks of planning used to go into each match, Appa used to bunk his office and me, my school, to watch matches. We used to make the living room into our own personalized stadium and no one was allowed to bother us. I still remember Amma shouting at both of us for letting me watch the match, days before my exams. Of course, neither of us could hear that as we were screaming in happiness for India was winning a match. Can’t blame no one, Cricket was indeed such a fever in the country, that I still remember my great grandmother to grandparents checking the scores when India is playing and my sister having posters of Robin Singh secretly hidden in her cupboard.
Years went by in a blink and I and Appa parted ways after
inflicting some grave wounds upon each other that neither of us could heal in
time. I vehemently spent years after that ‘unliking’ everything that was ‘ours’.
That was my coping mechanism, I guess. I stopped all of it, from our favorite color green to our
favorite sports cricket. I still remember getting out of
spaces where people were hooked onto TV when India was playing. It hurt, a lot
more than I imagined as I loved to watch the game but anything that reminded me of him, hurt worse. I do remember reluctantly watching India’s 2011 world
Cup win celebration on TV and getting so hurt as all I could remember was Appa
saying, “Ponnu, one day we will see a match together where India will win the
World Cup”. That day never came and Appa passed away in 2014 so abruptly taking
a part of me with him. It was too much pain to handle that I went back to my
routine of completely shutting down everything related to his memories and in the
process, stopped watching the game altogether. The introduction of IPL made it
easier to forget about the game totally.
I told myself that all of that was far behind me and
cricket, the only sport I knew about was out of my life completely. Until a few
days ago during a sleepless night, I decided to watch 83 on Netflix. I have no
idea what made me watch it then, despite having it on my recommendations for
weeks on Netflix. Yet, I am glad I did.
Objectively looking, 83 is indeed your sports drama genre movie with the added element of the reality of a time world history was rewritten, blended seamlessly into it. For those who saw the 1983 world cup, this movie will be a sweet revival of a historic moment and for those who haven’t been around then, the movie is the retelling of a brilliant match played by a team that no one believed in.
Yes, that doesn’t go over to say that the movie doesn’t play to the bollywoodness and nationalist sentiments of the country. The whole subplot about the government utilizing the game to divert people from ongoing local insurgence or the military watching the game with commoners or at borders can feel like a bit of an overstretch. You will find songs, scenes, and drama specifically catering to sentiment, but it isn’t on your face that you cannot overlook them. Despite all of that, director Kabir Khan didn’t let it overrun the narrative though, especially something that I feared, about regular vilification of opponents to add to the nationalistic fervor. He handled those aspects with maturity; the scene where Kapil Dev explains about West Indies's win in 1975 was something, that I barely expected out of a movie like this. Also, it might have helped the director and writers Sanjay Puran Singh and Vasan Bala that the match of 1983 and certain moments were indeed stranger than fiction which hardly needed any embellishments. For example, Dilip Vengsarkar getting hit so bad on his jaw by a Malcolm Marshall bouncer that he couldn’t play for several matches after or Indian Team’s return ticket being booked in advance even before the semi-finals as literally no one, not even the Indian cricket board at that time believed that the team had any chance.
For a few like me, 83 is also a reminder of a time when cricket meant a lot more than a game, before polarisation, hatred, corruption, scams, and all the other bandwagons it is associated with now, spoiled the game for the entire world. Thanks to you Lalit Modi and BCCI. There was indeed a brief point of time in the past, where the game did represent national sentiment but also was a symbol of unity that surpassed differences, at least for a time period.
The best part of 83 is that the effort is evident which they have put in to do the research and recreation and not letting the narrative drown in the whole national sentiment elements. The perfect blend in of real-life photographs and videos, whether it’s at the immigration point or during the live match, will definitely give you that feeling of nostalgia, if you loved the game ever. Also, kudos to casting companies for choosing actors who resembled their real-life counterparts spectacularly.
While almost all the actors did their part perfectly, it was Ranveer Singh who stole the show for me. He definitely merges into the looks and personality of Kapil Dev with chameleon-like ease. While he gets his spots just like how Kapil Dev had his unbelievable moments at the game, he doesn’t overrun the spaces of other actors.
Also, I was so glad to see Jiiva in a role where he could perform well after a long time, his monologue as Krishnamachari Srikkanth, is a scene I would gladly watch again. Slightly, irrelevant but giving Avantika Akerkar the role of Indira Gandhi would also be one of the finest casting choices done for the then prime minister of the country that I have seen yet, as she matched so well to her real-life counterpart.
Throughout the movie, I laughed, cried, and was on my edge
much like in the old times. I missed Appa so much and many a time unknowingly
raised my hands in the air for a Hi-Fi like we used to. So, as I mentioned earlier,
objectively 83 is another sports drama genre movie that is created reasonably
well. I couldn’t take 83 objectively as it was clouded by a lot of emotions,
memories, pain, and happiness. Smiling through tears I finished watching the
movie realizing I still got some good memories from a past that I believed had
nothing to offer.
Cricket fan or not, bit by nostalgia bug or not, if you love sports movies, you can give 83 a chance.
You can watch the movie 83 on Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar in
Hindi and simultaneously in its dubbed versions (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and
Malayalam).
P.S. If you would like a fact check to some pivotal scenes
in the movie 83, do check out this video by 5ocial on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/hu_EEFLtW9w
- 10 Things 83 Movie Got Factually Right & Wrong | Fact vs Fiction
That's an amazing review!!!!! Quite with just mins after watching the movie myself, I can absolutely connect to this. And trust me, I second fact of the brilliant work done with the casting team. I literally googled each of the players of the 1983 game and saw how each of the actors lived these players in front of the camera!!
ReplyDelete