At this point of my life, I am so done with ‘blockbusters’. I watched a few of them recently and could not relate to the hype they got. I mean why would people line up in the wee hours of the morning to watch a movie that has no logic, poor screenplay and is just a collection of visuals that together make no sense? Different folks, different strokes, I guess.
But what pains me more are films that get good critical reviews but fail in the box office as they’re overshadowed by the blockbusters. The 2022 Hindi-language sports drama “Jersey” turns out to be one such film. Written and directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri, Jersey, now available on Netflix, is a remake of a 2019 Telugu film with the same name.
I have watched both the versions, and thoroughly enjoyed each. Why? Because both have a brilliant script, earnest storytelling and impressive acting. (Here I review the Hindi version.) Shahid Kapoor in the lead gives one of the best performances in his film career–a role that unfortunately was criminally underrated.
Arjun Talwar (Shahid Kapoor) is an amazing cricketer from Chandigarh, India in the mid-80s. He has the highest batting average in all of India and is a strong contender to enter the Indian national team. Unfortunately, because of nepotism in selection, he does not make the cut. A frustrated Arjun then quits cricket for good.
Fast forward to 1996, Arjun is living a quiet life with his wife Vidya (Mrunal Thakur ) and son Kittu (Prit Kamani). He has been fired from his job on corruption charges with an ongoing trial to settle the matter. He is basically jobless and dependent on Vidya. When Kittu, a cricket academy student, asks Arjun to buy him an Indian team jersey for his birthday, he is rendered helpless. The jersey is unaffordable and Vidya outright refuses to lend him the money since she is running the house on a tight budget.
This brings Arjun back to the cricket ground, solely for money at first. But when his son nudges him to play more, Arjun, at 36, rejoins professional cricket. His attempts at regaining form and making another attempt to get into the Indian national team again makes up the rest of the story.
Jersey is a feel-good movie with a sad, unexpected ending. But it is also a story of hope and struggle which does not leave the audience depressed in the end. The makers have put in every effort to make the movie realistic and relatable to a nation that eats, sleeps and breathes cricket.
This is not Shahid Kapoor’s first film as a cricketer but this is where he shows how much he has matured as an actor. Kapoor drives the film forward with his skills and temperament. I read some people complain about how his acting in Jersey is similar to the 2019 movie “Kabir Singh” and I beg to differ.
Kabir Singh was an arrogant, possessive and violent lover who had a wealthy family to back him up. Arjun Talwar is a desperate father who wants to make enough money to buy a cricket jersey for his son. There can be no comparison between the two characters.
Kapoor gives a brilliant acting performance and makes you believe no one else could have carried out this role of a professional cricketer with such aplomb. The effort he has put in picking up the nuances of batting shows. But the credit must also go to the filmmakers who hired sports action director Rob Miller to ensure all the cricketing scenes are professionally choreographed and directed. The team deserves extra points for making that effort because many Bollywood sports films just fail to convince the audiences that their characters can actually play the sport in question.
Who should watch it?
Jersey is a beautiful film without much theatrics and can be enjoyed by people who love cricket or just enjoy good movies. The 2hrs 50mins length seems a little long but then I can’t recall many boring scenes that drag the film down.
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Sports drama
Director: Gowtam Tinnanuri
Actors: Shahid Kapoor, Mrinal Thakur
Run time: 2hrs 50mins
