‘83’: Kabir Khan says Deepika Padukone was always his preference to play Romi

Filmmaker Kabir Khan opened up about Deepika Padukone’s role in his next release 83  and said that he has always admired her and would have cast her even if she was not married to Ranveer Singh.

In the movie, Ranveer portrays the role of Kapil Dev while the Chennai Express actor has been cast as the cricket legend’s wife, Romi Bhatia. It will be their first movie together after the wedding in 2018.

While speaking to Indian Express, Kabir explained that the fact that Deepika is married to Ranveer was not a factor in his decision to cast her. He went on to add that portraying real-life couples as onscreen couples is a good marketing technique though.

“Her casting has nothing to do with Ranveer. Yes, today, as a marketing campaign it’s a thing to talk about. It’s a real-life couple coming together for the first time after marriage. However, I would have gone to Deepika even if she was not married to Ranveer. I have admired her over the years and she is a fantastic actor, with such an amazing presence”, he said.

Kabir further elaborated, “Romi Dev’s character does not have a lot of screentime but it’s very significant. The energy that Romi brings was much needed”.