Pankaj Tripathi to play team India manager PR Man Singh in '83

Pankaj Tripathi

Mirzapur actor Pankaj Tripathi will be taking on the role of PR Man Singh, former manager of the Indian team at the 1983 World Cup. Talking about the role, Pankaj Tripathi said he was always inspired and impressed by Kabir's films. "He is one of my favourite directors and we met a couple of times but never got an opportunity to work together. Then one day, he called me to narrate the story of '83 and at certain points, it made me tear up," Tripathi recalls.

Tripathi admits that he had not watched the final match in which India beat West Indies by 43 runs at Lords. Also, he used to listen to the cricket commentary on the radio as he didn't have a TV at that point. Tripathi added, "I must have been around eight or nine at the time, but I did read about the win in the papers. It's an inspiring story and I leapt at the opportunity to be a part of the film."

Ranveer Singh has already started prepping up to play former Indian skipper Kapil Dev. Pankaj Tripathi will play PR Man Singh, the team's manager in the film that is produced by Madhu Mantena, Vishnu Induri and Kabir Khan. The film will be Ranveer Singh's first trilingual film to be made in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Shouldered by then captain Kapil Dev, who led the Indian cricket team to it's maiden World Cup win, 1983's World Cup remains one of the most memorable events in the minds of cricket fans. While Ranveer Singh will play the lead, the film will be backed by a powerful support cast. The casting of the other cricket players will be announced soon.

Also read: Ranveer Singh to shoot at Lords to recreate World Cup-winning moment!

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