Tahir Raj Bhasin: Always felt I lived the festivities when India won ’83 World Cup

Mumbai, June 25 (IANS) On the 37th anniversary of India’s first cricket World Cup victory on Thursday, actor Tahir Raj Bhasin, who is all set to portray the legendary Sunil Gavaskar on screen in the upcoming film “83”, says even though he wasnt born in 1983, he feels like he actually lived those nationwide celebrations thanks to the images and tales told to him by his family.

“I wasn’t born when India won the ’83 World Cup. However, the popularity of the iconic images of the Lords balcony and the frequency with which they were broadcast for years, coupled with my parents and grandparents tales of the nationwide ecstatic celebrations on the day in 1983, always made me feel like I’d actually lived those festivities,” Tahir said.

Tahir says it was extremely nostalgic to be a part of Kabir Khan’s upcoming “83”, a film that recounts India’s massive win as rank underdogs, and he feels extremely honoured to be playing the role of iconic batsman Sunil Gavaskar.

“Recreating these treasured national memories on the sets of ‘83′ was every Indian kids dream come true. In my research for the part I was delighted to find that Sunil Gavaskar counts being a part of the first Indian team to bring home the World Cup as one of the high points of his record-breaking and illustrious career,” he said.

Tahir added: “Getting the chance to have in-depth conversations with the legend himself about the psyche with which he approached the pitch added to my experience of creating an on-screen Gavaskar.”

“83” narrates the story of India’s first-ever cricket World Cup victory in 1983. In the movie, Ranveer Singh stars as the team’s captain Kapil Dev while Deepika Padukone plays Kapil’s wife Romi Dev. The film also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Saqib Saleem, Harrdy Sandhu, Ammy Virk, Jiiva, Sahil Khattar, Chirag Patil and Adinath Kothare in key roles.

–IANS

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