Jersey

A rather common plot about a 30 plus sportsperson trying to re-establish himself/ herself in the sport some years after retirement and facing hurdles/ humiliation/failure. We had a movie " Panga" where the 30 plus kabaddi player Kangana Ranaut with a child to look after, stuggles to make a come back in the national kabaddi team.

In this movie we have an ex Ranji cricketer Shahid Kapoor who has not played for a decade, now 36 and wants to make it to the national cricket team to prove to his young son and himself that he can be successful . He doesn't have the support of his wife ( Mrunal Thakur) who wants him to continue in his secure government job. Shahid Kapoor does a good job as the angry, frustrated and confused cricketer not able to achieve success. An interesting scene is one in which he rides his bike in despair to the railway station, screams out his anger on the railway platform and the noise of a passing train drowns out the noise. Good one that. Shahid continues to retain his " Kabir Singh" persona both in looks and demeanour which works for him. There is a tendency to capitalize on his successful image. What goes against the film is the long running time of 2 hour 50 minutes due to which it drags at many places. At least 30 minutes could easily be edited out. The movie is predictable too in addition to its slow pace. A few scenes are unconvincing like Shahid not able to raise Rs 500 despite having four friends ! (One also has seen the superb Dhoni movie on a similar subject and which had class.) The movie has some warm and touching scenes of father -son bonding with Shahid and his young son. (Ditto for similar scenes of real father- son Pankaj Kapoor and Shahid.) Mrinal Thakur as the wife having differences with husband Shahid has acquitted herself admirably. Pankaj Kapoor as the affectionate coach is impressive as usual.

Even though I have watched the Original Jersey, i know the entire story and I am not a great fan of Cricket.

The entire cast of Jersey (2022) is so fabulous in the movie it was just heartfelt acting and at the end made me emotional.

Kudos to the Shahid, Mrunal and Pankaj Sir.....

Outstanding performance by Shahid like always. Do not trust these negative reviews!!! It may be a remake but it's one of the best. It was a roller coaster of emotions and the movie had me in tears. Definitely going to go watch it again!

Take away a man's passion, watch a living skeleton...

Arjun Talwar, a skilled cricketer, abandons his sport, joins a government job & supports his family. Legal issues snatch his job & he is unemployed.

Arjun Talwar fades away.

The plot depicts how this lost, faded & rusted man comes back. A very quintessential trope, quite regularly used in plots, thus what this film needed to work was its screenplay.

And it worked.

Cricket was a backdrop to this film. What really made the screenplay special was the core chemistry shared between each & every character thus giving an ode to some truly elegant writing.

The film is about the journey of a man's love for his family & himself and all these forms of love are shown effortlessly, motivating the viewer & making him love his vision of life, slightly more.

Additional points: Punjabi dialogues never felt forced from any actor.

Music is thoroughly enjoyable throughout the film.

Acting: The reason why I'm mentioning this aspect under a separate heading is that it stands out as the best part of this film. The beautiful dynamic between a fatherly coach Pankaj Kapoor & Shahid Kapoor (real life son) is beautiful. Also, the father-son chemistry shows how good a father Arjun actually is.

Well, this film really comprises some mainstream Bollywood non-cringeworthy romance, yes, quite a vestigial trope. Such organic chemistry between the leads show how skilled they are as actors & how beautifully they portrayed the ups & downs of a difficult relationship. Mrunal Thakur gave a compelling performance.

Shahid Kapoor. Till date, the man has surprised the audience every single time he came on screen. Haider, Kaminey, Jab We Met, Udta Punjab, Kabir Singh & whatever the film might be, he has managed to bring something new, something unique in every single performance he gave & this is no exception. Every single phase of Arjun was played effortlessly yet attentively. Long way to go, Shahid.

Jersey review. 23.04.22.

After watching both Telugu Jersey and Hindi version of it. I must say that Hindi version is a copy paste descent remake of the Telugu Masterpiece. Also songs were ok ok but not great. Telugu version Anirudh Music was brilliant. Main Theme song in Telugu version was astounding.

Coming to screenplay Hindi version is same.

Acting of Shahid Kapoor was really good. But i was felt more Kabir Singh. Which shouldn't have.

I am not saying its a bad remake but this version don't feel the way Original version felt. Naani was fantastic in the Telugu Jersey.

Only one highlight is Pankaj Kapoor. Who is as always brilliant a Master class. What phenomenal actor.

Overall its a descent remake.

Telugu Jersey is needed to be rewatch in Telugu.

Please do not, I repeat do not watch Telugu Jersey movie in Dubbed. Thats a worst dubbed movie i have ever seen. Also they butchered the movie in hindi dubbed with showing climax before you think it should have. You will hate it.

Please watch Telugu Jersey with subtitles in Zee5. I recommend it in original language.

Shahid Kapoor Jersey is descent to watch once.

7/10.