Jersey is an official remake of Gowtam Tinnanuri’s own Telugu film Jersey (2019), starring Nani. The film, which is set in the ’80s and ’90s, revolves around an ex-Ranji cricketer Arjun Talwar (Shahid Kapoor) who takes up the sport again at the age of 36 to please his young son Kittu (Ronit Kamra). Arjun is married to Vidya (Mrunal Thakur), who used to be his biggest cheerleader but resents his late foray into the sport. Arjun has a government job but has been suspended on false charges of corruption. Vidya, who works in the hospitality industry, has been running the house single-handedly and the harshness of the situation has put a strain on her relationship with her husband. Kittu demands the official jersey of the Indian cricket team for his upcoming birthday. It costs 500 rupees, which is a huge sum for the unemployed Arjun. Egged on by his former coach Balli (Pankaj Kapur), he picks up the bat again to play for the Punjab team against the visiting New Zealand team in a charity match in the hope of getting some money as match fees. He emerges as the highest run-getter, which further prompts him to try to get back in the Punjab cricket team. He does get selected and through his gutsy batting, make them the Ranji champions. He’s set to realise his dream of getting selected for the Indian cricket team but fate seems to have other plans for him…Jersey combines the elements of family drama and sports drama. It revolves around Arjun’s interaction with three people he loves and respects – his wife, his son and his coach. His relationship with all three has been shaky for a while and how he does his best to improve it forms the crux of the story. Gowtam Tinnanuri gives us a glimpse of a love story fallen on hard times through Arjun and Vidya’s tale. She comes from a well-to-do family who elopes with a young cricketer because of the passion he has for the sport, only to see him give it up when he doesn’t get selected for the national team. She still loves him but wants him to face up to his new reality and move on. His coach wants Arjun to start coaching youngsters and come back to cricket as he instinctively knows his pupil is happiest when he’s on the field. And his son, a budding cricketer himself, understands something is wrong between his father and mother but finds himself helpless to do anything about it. The most poignant scene occurs when Vidya slaps Arjun out of frustration. He doesn’t retaliate at all, which makes her feel all the more guilty. Arjun’s interactions with his coach Balli, who is somewhat of a father-figure for him, are made more credible by the fact that they are paid by the real life father and son, Shahid and Pankaj Kapur. There’s an easy camaraderie between them, which reflects well on screen.
The cricketing portions come in the second half. The director has kept the fact that it’s state level cricketers he’s showcasing and not national team players playing against international opponents. The cricket choreography is bang on and we must thank veteran cinematographer Anil Mehta for capturing them so effortlessly. The film’s period details are maintained well and the production design and costume team have to be lauded for that. The linear progression doesn’t work well for the film. It would have been best if the film brought some of the cricket action in the first half as well, using flashback and flash forward techniques and opting for a non-linear progression. It would have mixed things up rather nicely. In the current state, the first and the second half feel like they are two different films joined together. That’s our only complaint against this otherwise well-crafted, well-acted film.
Mrunal Thakur does share a chemistry with Shahid Kapur and we wished they had more scenes together as a couple to showcase the spark they share. She enacts her role of a harassed middle class wife to perfection and is an asset to the film. Though we’d have liked it if she constantly didn’t address her husband as Babu. Pankaj Kapur is one of the finest actors of this generation. Just being in the frame makes him look believable in any role. Here, as Arjun’s mentor, coach and friend, he’s as natural as they come. You don’t see an actor but an actual person and that’s acting masterclass alright. Shahid Kapur played a rebel without a cause in his last release, Kabir Singh (2019), as well. It too was a remake of a Teugu hit. Here, the rebel is also a loving father grasping at second chances. Shahid is a fine actor and has taken pains to make his character as real as possible. It’s perhaps his most non-starry role till date. His scenes with Ronit Kamra, who is wonderful as Kittu, smack of real father-son conversations. But it’s in his scenes with his own father, Pankaj Kapur that he truly excels. Like a patient student, he takes cues from Pankaj’s performance and moulds his own body language and voice accordingly. It’s easily one of his finest performances till date.
Kaun Pravin Tambe, which released recently, was a biopic of an actual cricketer who got selected in the IPL at the age of 40 and made a name for himself. Jersey is a fictionalised account of a man caught in a similar set of circumstances. Both tell us about sportsmen playing at the grassroots level. An MS Dhoni or a Sania Nehwal are people who achieved tremendous amounts of success. But there are thousands out there who are not that successful and yet are into sports for the sheer joy of it. It’s good that their stories are also being told nowadays.
Watch the film for its superlative acting and the emotional journey it takes you through. Jersey is something that can be enjoyed by the whole family, which is something of a rarity these days.
from filmfares
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