Tahir Raj Bhasin: Very confident Kabir Khan has a winner on hand with ‘83

2021 seems to be a busy year for Tahir Raj Bhasin, with two releases in the offing- Loop Lapeta with Taapsee Pannu, and the much-anticipated ’83, based on the 1983 cricket World Cup win for India.

Talking about getting back to work after the Covid lockdown made everything come to a grinding halt, he says, “It was incredible to be back on set. One of the things that kept me afloat during that period is the silver lining. We were meant to shoot this film in May-June of last year. We were one week away from going into schedule. The first time me and Taapsee were going to meet, Mumbai went into lockdown, and it got extended more and more. When you have lived with something for six months, the script and the part, when you execute it, there’s a tremendous feeling of creative satisfaction.”

The 33-year-old, who has been a part of films such as Mardaani (2014) and Chhichhore (2019), adds that work didn’t stop even when shoots weren’t taking place. “The exchange of ideas was happening on video calls ‘this is how we will play’, costumes… to see all of it physically manifesting was just a dream come true,” says the actor.

What also made headlines was the delay in the release of ’83. Initially it was pushed to December 2020, before finally settling for 2021. Bhasin says he is ‘very confident’ that Kabir Khan (director, co-producer) has a winner on his hand.

Asked whether he was apprehensive about the fate of the film, he says, “What’s great about it is that it is a period film, and a concept everyone is aware of. It’s not that the film will start looking old whether it comes in January or a few months later. 83 was an experience for me. When Kabir came and told me, I said wow, it’s going to be shot like the real players went and played the World Cup decades ago. We all moved to UK for three and a half months and played in the same stadiums. A film made on this scale, we were fortunate that it was made then, it would be very difficult in today’s time.”