Felt duty-bound to my nation: Ranveer Singh on 83 portrayal

Ranveer Singh plays former Indian skipper Kapil Dev in Kabir Khan's 83. The film celebrates India's first Cricket World Cup win in 1983 in England and Wales.

Ranveer feels proud that he had the honour to wear the Indian colours for the film. The actor says he felt a "deep sense of responsibility to do my best, contribute and anchor a film that is very important for our nation."

Speaking about the 1983 win, Ranveer says, "It is a glorious chapter in our history, an achievement that we want the coming generations to know of and feel proud of their country. So, I felt duty-bound to my nation, to creatively propel and empower a film that’s so important for us as a people.”

The cast of 83 has been praised for depicting the original Indian squad authentically. Besides Ranveer as Kapil, the film features Jiiva as Kris Srikkanth, Tahir Raj Bhasin as Sunil Gavaskar, Saqib Saleem as Mohinder Amarnath, Jatin Sarna as Yashpal Sharma, Ammy Virk as Balwinder Sandhu, and so on.

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"I felt duty-bound to the players of the 1983 World Cup-winning squad to re-create,  represent and portray their great achievement and justify the cinematic rendition of the story befittingly," Ranveer says, "and also duty-bound to Indian cinema after the struggles that the entertainment business has been through and to deliver a film that brings people back into theatres, that’s so important for our movies; a film that unites the diverse cultures of our nation into the bond of cricket and of movies."

83 is playing in theatres.