‘83 is a dramatized biopic Indian film of the Indian cricket team that won the World Cup in 1983. It was truly a monumental upset against a behemoth West Indies team, who had won the previous two World Cups. Some facts to build up the case. Considered one of the greatest teams in cricket history, West Indies had multiple legendary bowlers and the best batter in the world, Viv Richards. India had only won one World Cup game before 1983 (mind you, a single regular group game), and this time was in a stacked group with West Indies, Australia, and Zimbabwe. India defeated England on their home turf in the semi-finals, then went on to face West Indies in the final at England’s Lord’s Stadium, the oldest active stadium from 1814 and the most well-known. The most remarkable part was India had scored only 183 runs during their batting and faced the monumental task of holding West Indies to under 183 runs with Richards on strike. They held West Indies to 140 runs, the second lowest in World Cup history not passed until 1999 by Australia against Pakistan. India essentially snatched a victory from the lion’s grasp. It’s a fantastic story until you realize it happened.

Ideas, emotions, grit, spirit, and pride unite into a decent film. Directing was good in adding palm-gripping drama. The only thing I would complain about is filler moments to add comedy in the middle of cricket scenes. I wasn’t too pleased by those filler moments, but it’s nitpicking. The cricket scenes would be better with less sensationalism. Ranveer Singh, who played Indian captain Kapil Dev, had good acting. The rest of the cast wasn’t bad at all. The children of the original players played several of the cricketers in the film. I appreciated that no random songs broke out of the blue (there were ~3 short songs that weaved into the film action). About half of my playlist is Indian songs, but I don’t enjoy them in movies. I fast-forward all songs in Indian films - hence, I don’t watch Indian movies in the theater and rarely watch Hollywood musicals.

Would I recommend this? Not a must-watch, but I enjoyed it. Cricket fans would like it as it’s a celebration of the 2nd most watched sport in the world.

7.5/10