Watch: ‘83’ film trailer relives India’s cricketing glory with Bollywood star Ranveer Singh

It’s rare to come across a film trailer that can stir up strong emotions, and yet, ‘83’s story of a team of underdogs that goes on to stun the world and make history in the process packs plenty of surprises in 3.49-minute spool.

The true story of Team India and its journey to winning the cricket world cup in 1983 is reimagined by director Kabir Khan as the first trailer of ‘83’ drops in the lead up to the much-delayed release of the Ranveer Singh-starrer on December 24.

The pandemic may have deferred its date with the audience, but ‘83’ still goes far in its endearing appeal, much like Kapil Dev’s 16 fours and six sixes that saw a man with grit and gumption bulldoze his way against Zimbabwe in the quarterfinals to an unbeaten 175 runs off 138 balls and ensure his team stood a fighting chance in the tournament.

Singh plays the Indian skipper with conviction, wavering between just the right amount of hesitation and patriotism who is shouldered with responsibility to do his country proud. Deepika Padukone as his Roma Dev brings charm to her role, but it’s Pankaj Tripathi as team manager Man Singh who stands out in his man Friday role.

We all know how the story ended for India in that fateful tournament and changed the course of cricket for the country in the process. Khan, who has given us movies such as ‘Kabul Express’, ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ and ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, appears to have another winner on his hands with ‘83’. Also, full credit to him and the makers, Reliance Entertainment and Deepika Padukone Productions, who chose to highlight the names of Team India in the trailer rather than the actors who portray those roles in the sports drama. After all, it’s Kapil Dev and his squad of men who deserve all the glory.

‘83’ is releasing in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages and also in 3D. The film also stars Ammy Virk, Harrdy Sandhu, Jiiva, Saqib Saleem, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Neena Gupta and more.