(UTV | INDIA) – Gowtam Tinnanuri directed Jersey revolves around the life of Arjun Talwar, who despite being termed the best cricketer of India, gives up on his ambition.
10 years down the lane, he picks up the bat again to fulfil the little dreams of his son, Karan Talwar. Gowtam Tinnanuri uses the first half to establish his character as an underdog with references to his days of glory. While Arjun is down and out, the set up in the film creates curiosity as to what resulted in him giving up on the sport.
There are multiple tracks in the backdrop ranging from the conflict between Arjun and his wife, Vidya (Mrunal Thakur) to the temperamental issues of Arjun which force the audience to create their own theories on Arjun’s backstory. The first half is a slow burn, but the intermission block hits the right note. Ditto for the prolonged climax, which works on aesthetic as also the emotional front.
The story progresses in the second half and it’s the mystery around Arjun’s past that keeps the interest intact. The husband and wife conflict is among the major drawbacks, the cricketing scenes stand out. At a run time of 2 hour and 45 minutes, Jersey could have been shorter by at-least 15 minutes as there are ample loose ends in the narrative, but the story has its heart at the right place.
Too much influx of Punjabi might turn off a segment of the audience, but that’s a minor issue which can be ignored in the larger scheme of things. The film is too high on drama with little happening on the comic front, which might be an issue for some, more so because of the prolonged run time. Some tender moments through the narrative work wonderfully, so do the sequences comprising of Arjun and his friends side by side the element of redemption.
On the technical front, the cricket choreography is near perfect with actual cricket shots devoid of any visual effects. In-fact, the style of shooting the sport as also the technicalities of batting and bowling are a lot better than most of the cricket based films.
Shahid plays like a champion cricketer, paying ample attention to small aspects like his stance, foot work as also the key points of game play. The background score is also strong whereas the music gels well with the narrative. It’s among the rare Hindi films in today’s time with genuinely hummable music. The dialogues are average, whereas production values are rich with a good attempt at recreating the era gone by.
Jersey belongs to Shahid Kapoor. Time and again, he keeps proving why he is among the best actors of India as he is simply brilliant as Arjun Talwar. He underplays himself in the first half and brings in the inherent swag in the flashback portions. While the film promos gave a hangover of Kabir Singh in his performance, there is a stark difference between the two worlds. Watch out for his emotional outburst at a railway station in the early portions of second half when he makes it to the Punjab cricket team.
Mrunal Thakur is sincere in her performance but deserved a better sketched out character. Some of the core conflicts of the film between the husband and wife are devoid of a thread that brings them all together. Pankaj Kapur as coach, Madhav Sharma, is reliable as always. He has some lighthearted moments with his son, and their comfort level on the screen is a treat to watch. Ronit Kamra as Arjun and Vidya’s kid, Karan, is decent for his role. The rest of the ensemble do well.
All in all, Jersey is a well-intentioned sport drama, which much like the original, has heart at its right place. It rides on superlative performance by Shahid Kapoor, who rises to roar and revolt as a cricketer. While the pace is an issue, especially in the first half, and the runtime could have been kept under check, the cricketing sequences and the emotional core in the finale leads to a satisfying experience. It’s a faithful remake staying true to the world of the original.