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83: a ₹225 crore cricket film that grossed ₹194 crore
Kabir Khan's ₹225–270 crore 1983 World Cup film 83 grossed ₹193.73 crore worldwide and was called a box-office disappointment.
Reliance Entertainment · 2021-12-24
What happened
83, a sports drama directed by Kabir Khan about India's 1983 Cricket World Cup victory and starring Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev, was produced by Reliance Entertainment on a reported budget of ₹225–270 crore and released on December 24, 2021.
The film grossed ₹193.73 crore worldwide, and Bollywood Hungama recorded it as a box-office flop, with Reliance Entertainment reported to have lost nearly ₹22 crore on the venture.
Despite a beloved national story and a big holiday release, the film landed in a pandemic-shadowed Christmas window and failed to recover its enormous cost, leaving its producer with a rare loss on a sports nostalgia epic.
Why it happened
- Reliance spent ₹225–270 crore on a big-budget celebration of India's 1983 World Cup win, betting on Ranveer Singh and a beloved story to fill theaters.
- The film opened in a pandemic-shadowed Christmas window and grossed ₹193.73 crore worldwide, less than its budget.
- Called a box-office disappointment, it left Reliance Entertainment with a reported loss of nearly ₹22 crore on the venture.
The lesson
A beloved story is not a guaranteed hit: Reliance spent ₹225–270 crore on 83, the story of India's 1983 World Cup win, and it grossed ₹193.73 crore — nostalgia alone did not fill the theater.
Sources
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