83 and everything inside the boundary rope

Sourav B

83 And Everything Inside the Boundary Rope

Is this a movie review? Maybe, maybe not. It’s one perspective, it’s honest and it’s personal. Certainty ends there. And like anyone sharing a state of mind, I hope it makes sense to a few listeners.

I watched 83 today; and I wept. Sobbed as badly as i possibly could; not during scenes of hardship, not during scenes of humiliation or grief, but when we won. When there were smiles and cheers all around the theatre, I was weeping like an 8-year-old. I knew this was where it all started. I knew this is where the DNA that runs through this raw nation came from, and I knew this was where I got my right to dream to play cricket for a living.

83 may or may not be a good watch for the crowd. But watch it from an Indian cricket fanatic’s eye, the movie, or the story rather, looks as different as a living being from a corpse.

If one goes around the gullies of this country today, one is bound to encounter cricketing talents that – if unburdened by poverty and promised a life- can make a world eleven. Today, India breathes this game, and it breathes with a typically raw vigour, with passion; and all of this rooted from a group of men, who did the unthinkable at the mecca in 1983.

Watching the 83 west Indian team, especially Viv Richards and the brutally infamous pace brigade was like watching gods you’ve heard of in myths and legends come to life, watching Ranveer Singh replicate Kapil Dev’s technique was a treat to the eye and getting to know the little stories that happened in between all the glory was inspiring. But these aren’t what I want to type in right now. I want to tell you why I cried.

83 is every reason why I play this game. Today, as this country sits at the pinnacle of the cricketing world, literally bullying teams at their home turf, one can talk about how we Indians play cricket today with ameliorated techniques and technology, strategies and statistics, analysis and observations. But 38 years from 1983, at its core, Indian cricketers are plain, raw beings, riled up by passion and energy. Simple beings who believe they can move mountains with adrenaline, who take it personally, who play better, when their mate beside him is fomented. The song ‘Lehra Do’ recited this spirit quite beautifully,

“Himmat-E-marda agar ho,

Sang khuda bhi hota hai,

Ja zamane ko dikha de

Khud mein dum kya hota hai “.

Impractical you say? I say, watch 83.

Apart from the tale in the mainstream, the spirit, the fight, the environment, and the little battles with oneself, tell many other stories of their own if you care to listen to them. Fortunately I heard them; probably because I understood when sir Sunil Gavaskar’s character said “ cricket bahut kuch sikhathe hai kapsi “, pointing to his expertise in doing laundry.

83 as a movie may not be a success at it was intended to be, as more and more reviews come out. But for those, whom the red in a cricket ball means more than the red of their blood, it’s a conglomerate of enamoured emotions.

Cheers.

Sourav B