Usually, sports films focus on the dramatic story surrounding the actual sports to make the story more interesting for a film. When it comes to Bollywood there would be a whole lot more drama and nationalism added to make it a commercial entertainer. But what 83 does is, it made a film completely around the actual sports event and made everything surrounding it the filler contents that offers comedy and a few other commercial elements. This is the good thing and the bad thing about this film at the same time.
The movie is made in such a way that anyone who is not too familiar with cricket is not gonna enjoy this movie at all. On top of that, the filler content in between the sports highlights is more than often overdramatic, which can put off the aforementioned audience easily.
But for people who have grown up with cricket, especially those who watched the 1983 Cricket world cup live and those who grew up listening to that story, this will be a very entertaining watch. Right from the casting of each member of the team, they made a splendid job. Whenever they cut from a match to the TV screen showing the actual matches that happened in 1983, the casting and the attention to detail in making each shot perfect made it a smooth transition where you barely notice the change between the actors and the real-life players.
The casting, the cricket matches, each and every ball and shot, the mannerism and personalities of each team member have all been captured perfectly. To top that off, the small cameos of the real players, the inclusion of other so-called easter eggs all made it wholesome.
This is a very flawed film that leans closer to docu-fiction rather than just a historical biopic. So those who expect more than that may get disappointed.
