Tamil actor Jiiva will soon make his Bollywood debut via Kabir Khan’s 83, a story about the retelling of the events that paved way to India’s first ever world cup win in 1983. If the industry grapevine is anything to go by, Jiiva has been roped in to play the then Indian opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth in the film, who is also part of 1983's men-in-blue team.

The film stars Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev. Even though names of actors such as Allu Arjun and Vijay Deverakonda were associated with the project it turns out Jiiva was signed for the project way back in October 2018.

According to a report by Deccan Chronicle, Kabir Khan was very clear that he wanted a Tamil actor to essay the part of Srikkanth, who is a Tamilian. 

“The film’s director Kabir Khan was clear that he wanted to cast a Tamil actor for the role of Krishnamachari Srikkanth. He was looking for an actor who is young and talented, and eventually found that in actor Jiiva. When he approached the actor for the part in October, Jiiva came on board instantly,” a source was quoted by DC in its report.

Apparently, Jiiva has already started prepping for the role under the supervision of Srikkanth himself. The source further added that Jiiva has allocated two hours every day for practice sessions. His training sessions are expected to be over by February and he’s expected to start shooting for the film from March onwards.

Reliance Entertainment, Phantom Films and Vibri Media are jointly bankrolling the film.

Having recently completed shooting for Tamil film Gypsy, Jiiva is now expected to dedicate all his time for this project which could be his big ticket in Bollywood. Jiiva also awaits the release of Tamil thriller Key, which is rumoured to be based on the blue whale phenomenon.

(Content provided by Digital Native)