New Delhi: Neena Gupta made a special appearance in Kabir Khan’s directorial ‘83’ where she played the role of Rajkumari Lal Nikhanj, mother of Kapil Dev. Ironically, during the 1983 World Cup, Neena Gupta was dating Viv Richards who was Kapil’s bête noir.
The film also had another surprise. Kapil Dev made a cameo appearance as the one among several audiences, who picks up the ball after an impressionable shot by Ranveer Singh, who played the role of the cricket legend in the film. The character played by Kapil expressed, “Good shot, Kapil!”
The then cricket team was headed by Kapil Dev, who played against the mighty West Indies in the 1983 World Cup. Neena Gupta then dated Sir Viv, the master of batting of West Indies, who was a member of the 1983 Caribbean team led by Sir Clive Lloyd. The team was considered invincible after winning the first two World Cups.
In the finals, Sir Viv scored 33 runs from 28 delivered at a strike rate of 117.85 after which knocked out by a Madan Lal delivery. Earlier, when India was playing, Viv proved expensive with the ball, giving up eight runs in the only over he bowled.
Notably, Neena Gupta and Sir Viv started dating in the late 1980s and their daughter Masaba Gupta is one of the leading fashion designers and an exceptionally well actor who made her debut with Netflix original, ‘Masaba Masaba.’
Neena completed shooting for her part of the film in December 2019.
