Ranveer Singh's Transformation Into Kapil Dev For "'83" Is A Worth-Telling Story

Earlier in July of this year, Ranveer Singh’s first look for ’83 went out in the open and fans could not help gasping about the uncanny resemblance he shares with the original Kapil Dev.

In Simmba, the actor built a hulking avatar for Gully Boy and till this movie, he came out as a lean man who comes from the slums in Dharavi. The bottom line is how did this happen?

Recently, in a Mumbai Mirror interview, Rajiv Mehra spoke up for details. He is an assistant as well as a consultant for former cricket athlete Balwinder Sandhu and he was the coach that instructed Kabir Khan’s team. The actor's team had to sharpen their skills for cricketing and also understand the subtle distinction of their on-screen characters.

Spilling the beans about the training seances that started in August, Rajiv shared: “Everyone was aware of their characters but getting the technique right was our responsibility. We had to train them to become their characters physically.”

Talking about the training time for Ranveer, Rajiv also said that he had normal battling skills. “But his bowling left us scratching our heads.”

He kept on by saying that the Simmba actor just attended the training team in October 2018. In spite of the serious shortcomings, he paid huge dedication so as to make his actions right.

“Ranveer, with the boys, would be at the ground from 8 am till noon, continuing to practice even after others had left,” said Rajiv.

"The time Ranveer joined 83’team, he was around 86 kgs heavy. '83 demanded him to be around 75 kgs. So, in the second half of the day, he’d train with me at the gym, ending with swimming, for four months.”

Ranveer Singh also had some problems with his knee and that made the fast running quite an issue. To solve that, the film’s fitness team created a detailed rehab plan for Ranveer.

Ranveer was not the only person to have an individual training scheme. The other actors in the film each have a personal plan made by the coaching team. They made sure that the plan is suitable for each’s grasping skills and power.

Apart from Ranveer, ’83 squad consists of Jiiva, Ammy Virk, Chirag Patil, Sahil Khatter, Dhairya Karwa, Adinath Kothare, Jatin Sarna, Dinker Sharma, R Badree and Nishant Dahiya.

“The biggest challenge was to get them to think like cricketers. After that, we had to tone their bodies to look like that of sportsmen, for which we taught them sprinting techniques and gave body language training. After that came basic batting and bowling lessons. It was like teaching kids, as we had to start from the basics.”

The training not only includes physical skills but also bonding as a team. The whole cast and crew went to Dharamshala so as to take the drill in a real stadium.

Rajiv detailed, “Kabir sir wanted to check camera angles and different kinds of shots, so there were mock shoots as well. We practiced twice a day, with mornings reserved for skill development and evenings for strength-training.”

After the training that lasted nearly a year, the actors had turned into professional athletes by the moment they came to London for the filming.

He said, “If you do screen mirroring, things will look exactly like the 1983 World Cup and that’s the USP of this film.”

On Monday of this week, the whole team held a party to celebrate the wrap of the project. Present at the party included Ranveer and his wife Deepika Padukone, Kabir Khan and wifey Mini Mathur along with Jiiva.