What Kapil Dev Said About Deepika Padukone Playing His Wife Romi

New Delhi:

Kapil Dev is known not just for World Cup-winning catches and his iconic Natraj shot while batting but also for plain-speak. Fans thrilled but also a bit confused by the screen time devoted to actress Deepika Padukone in the trailer of ’83 – she plays Kapil Dev’s wife Romi – will be glad to know that the cricket legend is also somewhat puzzled. Asked by The Quint about his reaction to Deepika’s casting, the former Indian skipper said, “I think mixed because I don’t know how much the role of my wife is in ’83, so one does not realise that what they are trying to do there.”

The intent is to clearly make cinematic capital out of pairing real-life superstar couple Ranveer Singh, who plays Kapil Dev in ’83, and Deepika Padukone as a reel-life one – in fact, they have made several hit films together.

’83, as pretty much everyone knows, is a retelling of how India, led by Kapil Dev, won the World Cup in 1983 – a real life sports drama, the story of which most Indians know only too well. Aside from shoehorning Deepika as Romi Dev into this space, ’83 casts an incredible array of talent as Kapil’s Devils – these include Tahir Raj Bhasin as Sunil Gavaskar and Saqib Saleem as Mohinder Amarnath.

Team India is led in ’83 by Ranveer Singh, whose transformation into Kapil Dev has been received with great enthusiasm. To this bit of casting, the cricketer’s reaction was unqualified. “I think you feel happy that such a great, talented actor is trying to work on that. I was little worried also because it’s a very athletic job to do that. But the way he worked and the way he was working through out in the last one year I couldn’t believe that somebody can be so much keen in trying to do so much in that movie,” he told The Quint.

Watch the trailer of ’83 here:

As for that famous Natraj shot, here is Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev in ’83:

‘83, directed by Kabir Khan, will release on December 24.