“Taste success once, tongue want more”…
39 years ago on 25th June 1983, India defeated the mighty West Indian team to win the Cricket World Cup. Although India won two more world cricket titles since then, the 1983 World Cup victory was the greatest triumph of the underdog ever scripted. Winning against all odds, this scintillating success inspired generations of Indian youngsters to take up cricket and dream big. The inspirational leadership by team captain, Kapil Dev, and his “dare-to-dream” outlook ensured that there is no greater religion than cricket in the subcontinent. This piece of legendary Indian history of doing the impossible by trouncing the two-time defending champions on the world stage is beautifully portrayed in the movie, “83” which I watched on Netflix today. A bit longish at almost 3 hours but what a beautiful story and such a well- made movie starring Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev.
According to the bookmakers, the odds of India winning the World Cup was 66-1. Even the Indian cricket team itself accepted this humiliating prediction as they had booked a holiday to the USA immediately after their first round matches. They too didn’t have any hopes of progressing into the semi-finals. But they did not take into account the inspirational leadership of the Hurricane from Hariyana, Kapil Dev, with his understated manner, broad smile and Punjabi-laced English who rewrote the history books and put India on the cricket world map.
It is the first time I watched the actor who plays Kapil Dev, the dashing Ranveer Singh, in action and I must say he did an incredibly amazing job to portray Kaps or Kapsi as the Indian captain is affectionately known as. On watching Singh walk, talk, bat and bowl like Kapil, I wondered how long it must have taken him to learn these moves and mannerisms given the fact that the real life sportsman would have taken years and years of practice to achieve his unique stature in the form of movement, gestures and facial expressions. He has certainly taken his career to new heights by playing Kapil’s mannerisms, his strong Haryana accent, his broken English, his body language, pauses in his speech & the famous Nataraja pose. A touch of glamour was added to the movie too with Ranveer Singh’s real life wife, Deepika Padukone, making a cameo appearance as his wife, Romi.
For me personally, one of the best parts of the movie was seeing the West Indian cricket greats in action. I always loved Calypso cricket and the swagger and swoon of the West Indians was a thrill to watch. Like Srikkanth says when the Indian team watched a practice match of the West Indian team: ”it is like watching a horror movie”! With the rhythmic beat of the Caribbean music in the background and the close-ups of the heavyweights like the Whispering Death(Michael Holding) , the Hit Man (Andy Roberts), the fastest bowler in the world at that time, Malcolm Marshall and the absolute terror of bowling against the best batsman in the legend of Viv Richards - such superb acting that you had to blink to realise this was not the real team.
The director, Kabir Khan, and the scriptwriters must be complimented for their brilliant work in recreating this iconic moment in cricket history with such amazing attention to details in the pursuit of realism. This movie could have so easily veered into an over-the-top, Bollywood style direction with exaggerated dramatisation, focus on glorifying a single hero and opening the taps of compassion of the viewers by milking the political incorrectness and derogatory treatment of the Indian team but it doesn’t thankfully. Rather, there is careful control in portraying the actual events of the 1983 World Cup series as well as in the understated restraint of the captain whose sole mantra in motivating his team to the top with “Taste success once, tongue want more”…
More than a sports film, this is the best three-hour session of professional development or motivational work at its supreme best. All work teams or even youngsters at school or an individual who feels that the cards are stacked against you or there is no way forward, you should take a lesson from the class of 83. India was a team that had only ever won a single match at the previous two world cups, that too against East Africa (which is not even a country!). India had never beaten England in England, ever. Kapil Dev and his thirteen team mates dared to dream the impossible dream and achieved the unthinkable. The rest, as they say, is history!
The movie’s message underlined the universal truth that in sport: the full nation automatically gets united, irrespective of the state or the caste or religious beliefs that one may have. And while India laments that there is no footage of Kapil Dev’s match-winning knock of 175 against Zimbabwe in one of the lead up games to the final, I wish that I could have watched this masterful movie on the big screen instead of my lounge TV to relive the magic that once was on the hallowed turf of Lords in the summer of 1983.
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