Ranveer Singh and '83 Team Look Exactly Like 1983 World Cup Squad, Says Coach Rajiv Mehra

The team of '83 recently wrapped up the shooting with a perfect bash in BKC, Mumbai hosted by none other than Deepika Padukone. With the release date approaching soon, the cast's fitness coach revealed the transformation journey of Ranveer Singh and the boys.

Rajiv Mehra, who was a fitness consultant and assistant to Balwinder Sandhu, former cricketer and a part of the 1983 World Cup coached the cast. In a Mirror interview, Rajiv told, "Everyone was aware about their characters but getting the technique right was our responsibility. We had to train them to become their characters physically." Training sessions hit off last August.

Giving an insight to Ranveer's schedule, who joined the sessions in October, he said that the actor used to start his practice session at 8 and continue till noon. Since his weight was 11 kg over weight for the character, he would train at the gym in the latter half of the day followed by swimming. This was done for four months. Since Ranveer also suffered with a niggle in his knee restricting him from running fast, a rehab plan was made too. "The actors represent legends so perfection and technique and physical appearance was required for each and every character," he added.

Talking about the biggest challenge, Rajiv explains that it was to make the cast think like the cricketers they represent followed by toning up their bodies like that of a sportsperson. For that, training in sprinting and body language was given, followed by basics of batting and bowling.

"It was like teaching kids, as we had to start from the basics," Rajiv recalls.

At the end, Rajiv has managed to make them the replica he wished to create as he proudly says, "If you do screen mirroring, things will look exactly like the 1983 World Cup and that’s the USP of this film."

'83 is based on India's iconic win of the World Cup 1983 against West Indies held in England and Wales. The movie stars Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev, Tahir Raj Bhasin as Sunil Gavaskar. Deepika Padukone plays Ranveer's wife Romi Bhatia. The subsequent cast will be playing the role of other cricketers and the cast includes names like Harrdy Sandhu, Saqib Saleem, Ammy Virk, Jiiva, Sahil Khattar, Chirag Patil, Adinath Kothare, Dhairya Karwa, Dinker Sharma, Jatin Sarna, Boman Irani among others. Pankaj Tripathi too will be seen playing PR. Man Singh, their manager.

The movie is slated to release on April 10, 2020.

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