Ranveer Singh recalled shooting the presentation scene in 83, and how former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd suddenly arrived on set.
Actor Ranveer Singh spoke about experiencing a ‘spooky’ moment on the sets of his new film 83, about the underdog Indian cricket team’s victory at the 1983 World Cup. In a conversation Film Companion, Ranveer, who plays former captain Kapil Dev in the film, spoke about shooting the presentation ceremony and how director Kabir Khan wanted everything to be perfect. However, right when the shot was perfectly set, former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd marked his presence on the sets. Clive led the 1983 West Indies team.
“The presentation ceremony when they lift the trophy, we were at the Lords, shooting with the real cup. We are in this historic balcony where it happened all those years ago. Kabir sir was very particular about the presentation ceremony because these are the moving images that have been seen over and over again over the years. We had to get down to the T,” Ranveer said, adding, “Now, this morning, everybody is charged up. It is the presentation ceremony, we are going to do multiple cameras, one shot. Everybody there, even the 50-80 people on the balcony had to get their thing right. The boys are watching the footage 50, 80, 100 times just to get their timing right. Each thing. Everything is set up. Suddenly, the West Indies captain Clive Lloyd walked down on the set. We were shooting the ceremony. He was standing on that balcony. We were like, ‘Are we seeing a ghost?’ Nobody expected this. We were like. ‘What is Clive Lloyd doing?’ So, Clive Lloyd, in the flesh, walks on that morning to the set. He is sitting with Kabir sir watching the recreation of the presentation.”
In an earlier interview, Kabir Khan also spoke about Lloyd’s surprise visit to the sets. Recalling the moment, Khan remembered how Lloyd turned down his offer to observe the scene more closely. “I remember when were shooting the climax where the World Cup is handed over to Kapil Dev. We were on the same balcony at the Lords, in the same spot recreating the moment after many years. And at that moment, Clive Llyod walked in and sat beside me. I asked the living legend if he wanted to move closer to the shooting space. With a straight face, he replied, ‘Do you want me to see the Cup given way the second time?’ (laughs). And then as we were just about to roll, two women walked in with a trolley with something covered in a velvet cloth. As they unveiled it, we saw it was the original 83 World Cup that they brought from the museum. So what you see in the film is the same cup that Kapil and his Devils won,” Khan told indianexpress.com.
Ranveer also spoke about the strange experience of shooting the presentation scene. “They call out the name, I start walking. I know the choreography of this shot. I know this is exactly how it happened in real. I took the trophy in my hand. Forgot the envelope, took it. Went to the boys, I lifted the cup. I cannot tell you. I had this one spooky moment during Bajirao Mastani and now, this. When I lifted that cup, I was tripping. I could hear cheering, could see flags waving. I felt some kind of… that moment was unforgettable,” he said, adding that right after the cut was called, there was pin-drop silence for a while and soon the actors saw each other crying. “We all just started crying. I was crying, Saqib was crying, Kabir was crying. The boys huddled together and we wept. In that moment, we relived that moment. It was just overwhelming. These sort of experiences I will never forget in my life.”
Ranveer concluded by saying that in his decade-long career, he has never felt this kind of euphoria around a film. 83, directed by Kabir Khan, released on December 24.
