Kabir Khan excited over '83 release, says ‘this film is going to last through my life and maybe beyond’

Kabir Khan says it was a tough process to transform Ranveer Singh into Kapil Dev.

New Delhi: Director Kabir Khan is super excited as his film featuring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone is all set to hit the big screen on December 24. The biopic is based on India’s historic win in the 1983 Cricket World Cup. Ranveer, who plays the role of the then Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev, has been showered with praises for spectacularly stepping into the shoes of the cricket legend.

When Kabir Khan was asked how did he manage to do it, he answered, “Today everyone is talking about Ranveer Singh looking like Kapil Dev but I still say as a director it's not the looks it's the expression, the accent that is making all the difference. If you dissect feature by feature they are not similar. It's the persona. When he walks and talks, it seems like Kapil Dev on-screen. It was a tough but enjoyable process”.

Talking about if he is feeling pressured as ‘83 is about to release, Kabir said, “No I think I had enough time, I had 20 months to release the pressure. In that sense now I’m very excited. I’m very happy and proud of the film I’ve made and I say that I’m a director who doesn’t like to define his films within the parameters of box office. I like to define films as how long do they stay in somebody’s mind”.