Ranveer Singh's World Cup saga, 83, to arrive in theatres on 4 June

Kabir Khan's much-delayed opus 83 is set to be released on 4 June. The makers took to social media late on Friday to reveal the release date. The film will be released simultaneously in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

The sports film tells the story of India's maiden Cricket World Cup victory, and the journey the players went through to get there. It features an ensemble cast comprising Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Boman Irani, Pankaj Tripathi, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Saqib Saleem, Jatin Sarna and Harrdy Sandhu. 

Initially scheduled to be released on Christmas 2020, 83 was among the major projects affected by the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown. After deliberation, the producers, Reliance Entertainment, decided to push the film's release to 2021. 

The film will now be released in the same month as the Ranbir Kapoor led-Shamshera and Nagraj Manjule's Jhund.

While there were rumours that the makers might opt for a direct-to-OTT release, Khan insisted against this. In May 2020, the filmmaker said, "We will be ready (to release the film when the lockdown is lifted), but having said that, we will only come out with our movie when the comfort is palpable. and when we feel that it is okay."

Rohit Shetty's Sooryavanshi, also a Reliance Entertainment production, has similarly been delayed. Reliance Entertainment Group CEO, Shibasish Sarkar had insisted that both films would be among the first to be released when theatres are reopened. With 83 announced, it is likely that the announcement of Sooryavanshi's theatrical release date will follow.