Jersey – A Shahid Kapoor starrer along with Mrunal Thakur has finally hit the theatres. Direction by Gowtam Tinnanuri and presented by Allu Arvind, Jersey has been the Bollywood remake of a Telugu film released in 2019 under the same name. While Gowtam has helmed the Hindi version too, Shahid Kapoor replaced the actor, Nani, while Mrunal plays his lady love, replacing Shraddha Srinath. Now that the film made its release, let’s keep an eye on the Jersey review and other details:
Jersey Review: The Storyline
The story revolves around the dream of a father, followed by his son. It focuses on the story of Arjun Talwar (Shahid Kapoor), a world-class cricketer. Vidya (Mrunal Thakur) falls madly in love with Arjun and decides to marry him against her father’s wishes. At the peak of his career when Arjun becomes all set to be selected for the Indian team, he decides to give up cricket after being let down by politics in the selection committee. Reality hits him hard when he realizes that his wife and son also need to be taken care of. A few years down the line, he starts playing once again to prove himself for the sake of his son. Even his kid follows the same dream and asks his father to gift him a jersey.
His wife wants him to return to his old job back for the family’s security but Arjun wants to step back into the field of his long-lost dreams. Once he decides to start again the innings of his life, it comes with choices between two impossible options by Vidya. Let’s watch the film to see what Arjun chooses and what if he goes with cricket? Will Vidya still support him? Through the fragments of an unfulfilled promise, a father, for the sake of his child decides to restart his life and what happens next is what Jersey is all about.
Jersey Review: Script Analysis
Using the same formula as the film “Kabir Singh”, Jersey retains the original director of its predecessor in its Telugu version. Similar to Sandeep Reddy Vanga in Kabir Singh, Jersey’s director of the original Telugu version, Gowtam Tinnanuri directs the Hindi version too. This is the right manner to adapt a movie/subject, by asking the same mastermind to do the trick once again but by adding a bit different masala.
The film consists of all those instances necessary in a sports film, like rising from a middle-class family, struggling to achieve the dream and most interestingly, last ball suspense. But Jersey definitely comes with a lot more things. It explores the unbreakable bond of a father and a son, the couple’s relationship with its ups and downs and an inside journey of a man.
The director built the character in such a strong manner that it speaks out the loudest even without uttering a word. He builds a story that sketches a character’s journey from the beginning to the end, and that inculcates even a ray of hope in many distressed lives. The filmmakers even decided to keep the editor, Naveen Nooli, same for Telugu as well as Hindi versions. The director could have just dubbed the original version into the Hindi language, but he was quite confident of the audience that comes with casting Shahid Kapoor and Mrunal Thakkar in the film.
The different camera techniques used by the makers worked well in their favour. The movie runs for a total of 170 minutes, i.e., 2 hours and 50 minutes. The trend for longer duration movies seems to be back in Indian cinemas with recent movies like Gangubai Kathiawadi, RRR, K.G.F: Chapter 2, etc.
Performance of the Cast
Shahid Kapoor
Shahid Kapoor, unlike his usual roles, chose to play a cricketer’s role in this film. He always played roles like a chocolaty boy, the boy next door, a drunken lover, etc. Plus, a father’s role has also been played well by the actor. To make Arjun’s serious avatar look charming, Shahid just smiles and makes a peculiar thing to his face to change the mood.
Mrunal Thakkar
Mrunal Thakkar, in her role, gives an exemplary performance in the film. She plays the role of a cricketer’s wife, who brings out the struggles faced by the family. Vidya made an impact on a lot of what Arjun plays in the film. Mrunal with her stunning acting skills shows the dark side of struggle very well. While Arjun struggles, Vidya showcases how hard the struggle becomes for the entire family and the way it impacts them. There’s a scene in which she smiles as well as cries. This scene catches the hearts of many and touches the emotional aspect of everyone’s hearts.
She also played the role of a mother in this movie. She said in an interview that the role of mother got inspired by her own mother in real life. With her mother as an inspirational figure, she acted graciously in her role. Mrunal, overall, adds a shining star to Shahid’s performance.
Pankaj Kapur
Pankaj Kapur, Shahid Kapoor’s real-life father, guides him through the movie as a coach. Just like a father serves as a guide for their child, Pankaj Ji played the same role in their real-life as well as reel life. With the help of their biological bond, the script smartly adds depth to their bond in the movie. With his sense of humour, he adds comical aspects to his role a few times in the film. This proves that he is no less than an all-rounder.
Ronit Kamra
One more thing, the makers decided to keep it as it is, from the Telugu version was Ronit Kamra. Ronit, at the age of just 11 years played the role of Arjun’s son in both the versions. He nailed it in not just one but multiple scenes with his very subtle reactions. Without crossing any line, Ronit creates this aura around him, mastering every scene he acted in.
Overall, the cast adds life to the film. Many other supporting actors too played an amazing role in the film. The supporting cast includes Rudrashish Majumder, Geetika Mehandru, Shishir Sharma and others. Besides a smooth storyline and plot, the actors put a cherry on the top.
Jersey Review: Direction
In the era where South industry and Bollywood face a constant clash between their movies, Gowtam played well by merging both the industries and presenting to a wider target audience. Many South Indian films have recently placed themselves in the hearts of Bollywood audiences. For instance, movies like RRR, K.G.F: Chapter 2, Pushpa, etc. gained enormous popularity based on their storyline and cast. Such action thriller films made their place but Jersey seems to be on a different tangent. Unlike the other recent South Indian hit films, Jersey hardly involves any violence or action.
Gowtam kept the focus on a single person throughout the film and depicted that the life changes in that person’s life affect the people around him. The story leaves everyone inspired as it delves deep into the spirits of determination, sportsmanship, and grit. Gowtam, with his Hindi directorial debut, left an impacting mark on the cinema. The movie, after getting postponed twice, finally made it to the big screen. It clashed with Neeraja Pandey’s Operation Romeo.
It’s never easy to replicate a successful film; recreating it for a different set of audiences essentially means taking something that worked very well in its original form and casting it into a new and unfamiliar setting. Replicating something involves effort and hard work. Though the storyline and plot remain the same, the cast, crew and songs change in order to serve something new to the public. Nevertheless, Bollywood’s habit of turning towards the South industries for films proved to be much more successful. For example, Ajay Devgn starrer “Drishyam”, a remake of a Malayalam film under the same name, was lauded by the audience and the critics. While dubbed films comparatively become easier, remaking a film for an audience from a different cultural understanding becomes as good as writing a new film.
Jersey Review: Music
Anirudh Ravichander took the responsibility for the original film’s music. The songs of this Hindi version of the movie include:
- Maiyya Mainu – by Sachet Tandon
- Baliye Re – by Parampara Thakur, Stebin Ben and Sachet Tandon
- Mehram – by Sachet Tandon
- Jind Meriye – by Sachet Tandon and Parampara Thakur
After giving a blockbuster hit song “Bekhayali” in Kabir Singh, the couple came back with a rocking soundtrack in this film. The 4 song soundtrack proves their command over the melody. Beginning with Maiyya Mainu, the song crossed more than 105 million views on Youtube before the movie’s release. It became a romantic sensation on all social media platforms. The song Mehram commences on a note of melancholia as the composers’ love for rock riffs comes into the picture. Baliye Re somewhere acts as an odd one out in the whole soundtrack. Set in uplifting tones and Punjabi rap, the song suggests the movie is set in a Punjabi background or so, which is definitely not the case with this film. The last track, Jind Meriye, obviously suggests the finale of the audio-visual experience. The beats and the track shifts you mentally into a stadium-like atmosphere.
You can listen to the whole track on: https://youtu.be/r8M9sqg3NFo
Jersey Review: Final Word
Over and all, the film passes with flying colours and prepares the stage for the next box office blockbuster. The film stands strong on the grounds of emotions, love, entertainment, drama, and parenting. This is definitely a must-watch movie.