Director Kabir Khan said former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev and members of the 1983 World Cup winning squad will be training actor Ranveer Singh in learning nitty-gritty of the the popular game for his forthcoming film.
In "83", Ranveer will portray the role of Dev, under whose captaincy Indian won the World Cup in England.
"The whole team will have to undergo some prep work. There will be a boot camp where they all will be trained for (playing) cricket.
"Members of the 1983 World Cup squad will be helping us, they will be there as consultants and coaches for the team. It will be begin next year," Kabir told PTI.
Kabir also said he is confident that the "Bajirao Mastani" actor will play the role as per the requirement.
"Ranveer is an actor, he will play according to the demand and requirement of the character. I have always admired Ranveer as an actor.
"He is a young boy with great sense of enthusiasm and energy. His physicality is correct to play Kapil Dev, who is an icon. He loved the story and is happy to play Kapil Dev on screen."
In terms of Ranveer's look in the film, Kabir said, the makers will not opt for prosthetics to make him look exactly like Dev.
"There will be some attempt to make Ranveer feel, look, talk and be like Kapil Dev. But we are not looking to making him look identical to him, ultimately it is Ranveer playing him on screen," Kabir added.
The director said his film is not a biopic on Dev, it is the story of 1983 World Cup victory.
"It is not the story of Kapil Dev alone, though he had a huge role in it (winning the World Cup). It is the story of 1983 World Cup victory. So Kapil's story is within the victory," he said.
Besides, Dev, other key members of the World Cup victory team include Mohinder Amarnath, Sunil Gavaskar, Kirti Azad, Yashpal Sharma, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Roger Binny, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Sandeep Patil, Syed Kirmani, Madan Lal, Ravi Shastri, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sunil Valson, who beat West Indies in the final to lift the first Cup.
Talking about casting other actors, the director said, "In case of the 1983 World Cup, I think the players are the real stars. We are looking for good actors. We are in the casting process.
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