Jiiva to play Krishnamachari Srikkanth in Bollywood debut

Jiiva, who was last seen in Kalakalappu 2, will be essaying the role of Indian cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth in the Bollywood film, 83, which marks his Hindi debut.

The film, which chronicles the events that led to India’s first-ever world cup win in 1983, is directed by Kabir Khan, and stars Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev, Deepika Padukone as Kapil Dev's wife Romy, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the coach of team India.

Even though names like Allu Arjun and Vijay Deverakonda were associated with the project, it turns out that Jiiva was signed for the project way back in October 2018.

According to reports, the director Kabir Khan was particular that he wanted a Tamil actor who had some proficiency in cricket to essay the part of Srikkanth, a cricketer from Tamil Nadu.

Apparently, Jiiva has already started prepping for the role with daily two-hour practice sessions under the supervision of Indian cricketer, Balwinder Singh Sandhu. With Jiiva's training sessions expected to wrap up by February, the film is said to go on floors in March with a hundred-day first schedule in London.