How Arjun Kapoor lost 83 to Ranveer Singh

Not many are aware of the fact that Arjun Kapoor was the original choice to play Kapil Dev in sports drama 83. But the film finally went to his close buddy Ranveer Singh who is garnering positive reviews for his performance in the film directed by Kabir Khan.

Hyderabad (Telangana): Actor Ranveer Singh is basking in the rave reviews of his latest release 83. The actor is being lauded for nailing cricketing legend Kapil Dev's role in the sports drama co-produced by his wife Deepika Padukone who also features in the film as Romi Dev. But very few are aware of the fact that the film was supposed to be made with Arjun Kapoor playing the lead tole and not Ranveer.

The team of 83 had a grand premiere of the film in Mumbai last night. The who's who from the films industry attended the premiere and later took to their respective social media handles to heap praise on Ranveer for his stellar performance and Deepika for throwing her weight behind the film. Arjun, who is said to be sharing a close bond with Ranveer, however, was missing from the starry 83 premiere.

Though the shooting of his upcoming film Kuttey is keeping him busy, Arjun could have squeezed out a few minutes to attend 83 premiere. But he did not. And the reason behind his absence from 83 premiere is being attributed to Ranveer replacing him in the film which was originally planed with Arjun being playing Kapil Dev.

READ |'Time to disappear,' says Arjun Kapoor. Read why

According to reports, when producer Vishnuvardhan Induri and National Award-winning writer-director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan were putting together the movie, they were keen to cast Arjun Kapoor as Kapil Dev. The project was announced in 2014 but later Sanjay was replaced by Kabir Khan in 2017.

If reports are anything to go by, Arjun had already started his cricket training but Kabir Khan was keen to cast Ranveer as Kapil Dev and were in talks with him already. When Arjun came to know that Kabir had approached Ranveer for the role, he requested Ranveer not to do the movie but added that it was finally Ranveer’s call.

Ranveer apparently found it hard to resist the role of a lifetime and finally lapped up the opportunity. His decision seemingly did not affect his bond with Arjun as they decided to sort it out in a mature way.