'83: Tahir Raj Bhasin On Playing Ranveer Singh Aka Kapil Dev’s Reel-Life Best Buddy Sunil Gavaskar, ‘He’s Like A Thunderbolt Who Compels You To Up Your Game’
Tahir Raj Bhasin, who plays the role of Sunil Gavaskar in ’83, opens up on playing Raveer Singh’s best buddy on screen. Calling RS a thunderbolt who compels people to up their Game
After a delay of almost more than a year due to COVID-19 pandemic, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone led ’83 is slated to release this year. The film that is based on India’s Victory in 1983 World Cup against West Indies is slated to release on June 4, 2021. In the upcoming film, Ranveer will be seen portraying the role of captain Kapil Dev, while Deepika will play Kapil’s wife Romi Dev to real-life husband. Now during his latest interview with ETimes, Tahir Raj Bhasin, who plays the role of Sunil Gavaskar, opens up on playing Raveer Singh’s best buddy on screen.
Speaking to Bombay Times, Tahir Raj Bhasin opened up about playing Sunil Gavaskar and playing Ranveer Singh’s best buddy Kapil Dev in ’83, he said, “Playing a living legend is a massive challenge. There’s a lot of pressure. I did my research well. As far as Ranveer is concerned, when he is in the same room as you, he’s like a thunderbolt... a live wire, who compels you to up your game. There’s this energy he exudes the moment he walks into a room.”
He went on to explain, “Before 83, I had only seen Ranveer’s interviews and seen him at YRF. I got to know him better during this film. A lot of people ask me whether he is really like that. All that energy, is that real? I feel it’s genuine. He commits to a part 110 per cent. When you have a guy like him playing the captain, it compels you to do better as well, and it shows. It helps the entire unit.”Sharing the screen with Ranveer was important for Tahir for a special reason — the Sunil Gavaskar-Kapil Dev dynamic. He shared, “It was particularly thrilling for me because there was that Sunil Gavaskar-Kapil Dev dynamic. Gavaskar was the skipper before Kapil Dev. We had to feed off each other’s energy to get that dynamic right.”
He concluded saying, “The credit goes to Kabir Khan because he was clear that the team had to function as a unit. All of us started our cricket training six months before the commencement of the shoot. Even in the UK, we would travel in a team bus. We would eat, travel and stay together. By the end of it, we felt like a unit. It was a life-changing experience, and I am glad we finished the shoot then. Had it been delayed, it would have been extremely difficult to shoot during the pandemic.” (ALSO READ: ’83: Ranveer Singh Says ‘See You In Cinemas’ As He Announces The Release Date; Film To Screen In Five Languages In Theatres)
Images Source: instagram.com/tahirrajbhasin
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