Kapil Dev shares Richard Hadlee's review of '83', special comment on Ranveer Singh

The film '83' garnered positive reviews not only in India, but has proven to be a success world-wide. The Kabir-Singh directed sports biopic capturing Indian cricket’s historic 1983 World Cup win has been a massive victory for the entire team, as people have thoroughly enjoyed the effort that has been made to bring one of Indian cricket’s biggest successes on the big screen.

The film was watched and loved by New Zealand cricket great Richard Hadlee, who sent a heartfelt letter to former India captain Kapil Dev. Kapil, whose character was portrayed by Ranveer Singh, shared Hadlee’s words of appreciation towards the movie and the Bollywood superstar.

"Hi Kaps! I have just finished watching '83' on Netflix and I was inspired to contact you. I really enjoyed the movie and reliving the 1983 World Cup. It was a very inspirational movie and story that warmed my heart. It gave me a greater insight into you as a person and how you motivated your team through your words and deeds on the field,” Hadlee wrote in his latter," Hadlee mentioned.

"Without even checking the record books I remember your marvellous innings against Zimbabwe (and your score) and the low team scores in the final and how the team lifted themselves to defeat the Windies. It was great to see you and Jimmy play an active part in the movie. You were well portrayed by Ranveer Singh.

"The production was excellent and story was absorbing with some interesting asides especially with the support the team had from fans in India and on the border. Seeing the games acted out with some real film footage and still camera shots embellished the movie and brought life to the story. Some of actors were very distinguishable both in the Indian and West Indian teams — I thought Malcom Marshall’s bowling action was very good," said the legendary Kiwi pacer.

The film was released in Indian theatres on December 25 last year, but before it could gain steam, a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, led by the Omicron variant resulted in cinema falls being shut. The film is currently streaming on OTT platforms Netflix and Hotstar.