Jersey Review , the best way to sum up is , it is sporty, gritty, and enjoyable. Shahid Kapoor starrer Jersey, directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri’s is a remake of the 2019 Telegu film of the same name. This is Shahid’s second Telugu adaptation after Kabir Singh, which got him good reviews and applause. The movie is a heartfelt story about a father who goes to great lengths to fulfil his son’s dream. The film is full with thrilling emotional and dramatic moments.
At the peak of his career, Arjun Talwar (Shahid Kapoor), an aggresive batsman in the Punjab Ranji Trophy team, gives up his life’s biggest passion and gift, which is being on the cricket crease with a Sehwag-style cricketing credo: See ball, hit ball. Arjun hardly ever runs between wickets—he is effortless at raising the ball for sixes and fours.
His motive behind this drastic decision is not just that he does not make it to the national team. After cricket, his personal life is a chaos. He loses the government job that he got through his sports background. His wife Vidya (Mrunal Thakur) works at a hotel reception desk and is frugal so the family can make ends meet.
Arjun’s tryst with Chandigarh’s majestic Mohali Stadium is now early morning sit-outs outside the boundary watching his pre-teen son Kittu (Ronit Kamra) train under his former coach (Pankaj Kapoor) who was his only support, motivator, guide and proxy parent while he grew up playing the sport. On his birthday, Kittu asks his father for an Indian team jersey.
Jersey Review: A Sports Drama filled with emotional moments
Arjun does not have the money and Vidya needs to be judicious with her hard-earned earning so the family can make ends meet with her meagre salary. Arjun is stagnant, downbeat and depressed. The relationship between Arjun and Vidya has soured because according to Vidya, Arjun walks away from every opportunity, an escapist that she is having a hard time living with.
When his coach and friends force him to play a charity match on home grounds, Arjun shows his class, far from rusty, he is an inspired hitter and takes the home team to a dream, cliff-hanger victory. He is now a hero in his son’s eyes, which inspires him on start from where he left off—play until he gets a place in the national team. What follows is an impossible Ranji dream—Arjun takes Punjab to a win at the finals against the season’s hottest team.
In Jersey, Arjun’s story inspires a book and a celebration that reveal Arjun’s real secret behind his decision to quit cricket at the pinnacle of his sporting prowess.
Watch Jersey in Action here
The writers—director Tinnanuri, Sidharth Singh and Garima Wahal—go for broad strokes and tear-jerker scenarios to build momentum in Jersey. Every emotion has the pitch and language of a massy sports film. While the movie is a sporting entertainer, the movie is stretched out, and might lead you to fatigue in the end.