Shahid Kapoor’s ‘Jersey’ proved to be a film with heart winning potential but unfortunately not the business one.
The film’s struggle plays a prime example of the changing dynamics of the Hindi Cinema. It endured a clash with a mega South Indian Blockbuster KGF chapter 2 while managing an identity of its own among the Hindi speaking audience despite a version of it already been released in South India.
The movie, despite its naïve nature and well performing cast, fails to survive among dramatic conditions and competition. But that however, certainly does not make Jersey the movie not to watch.
Shahid Kapoor, the young chocolate boy who would often be seen in typical rom com Bollywood movies such as Wah Life Ho to Aesi, China Town, Chup Chup Ke and Jab We Met.
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He would usually be donning a neat gentleman’s cut while exquisitely pulling off a clean shave.
Gone are the days of this baby-faced Shahid Kapoor and what we see today is a man who has realized life and its adversities, yet he carries the valor to tackle all of it and be responsible. When you watch Jersey, you reminisce the great evolution of Shahid Kapoor from a charming man to finally a family one.
Arjun Talwar (Shahid Kapoor) struggles in finding meaning for a decade after quitting national level cricket. The only individual who sees a hero in him is his son. Arjun is super proud of the image his son has for him until one day he demands a branded cricket Jersey kit which Arjun is unable to afford.
The movie takes excited turns as Arjun returns to his game after years of hiatus. But the movie is not all sunshine and rainbows as Arjun faces far more concerning circumstances, yet, the cricketer finally gets his name on the international cricket team while making a strong name for himself.
Shahid Kapoor flawlessly captures as the role of the protagonist; the plot is fervent enough to make you realize the challenges faced by a common man.
When considering the plot, Jersey is a super realistic movie in which not everyone is a superhero. Life is fragile, family is second to none, and that struggles are real but promising.
This is what the movie conveys to the people.
This may be the truth, yet it’s not convincing enough to the audience who still believe in fiction and fairy tales. The movie is beautiful in its way of deliverance where one accommodates oneself and relates to the protagonist endeavors and adversities.
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Gowtam Tinnanuri , the director and the writer of Jersey is still new to Bollywood and filmmaking. He has directed less than five movies majorly for the Telugi Cinema. But that does not stop him for receiving praises for the project.
The theme essentially revolves around cricket thus making it a debatable and a risky topic of consideration for a movie. Bollywood films, the ones that are based on sports (Particularly cricket) are notorious for have a declining graph at the box office.
The history shows us well-crafted Cricket fictions (Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii and Victory) as well as cricketer biopics (Azhar and 83) have performed far below expectations apart from one exception: M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story.
Jersey is a movie that’s way too long, making the movie vulnerable. It’s hard to incite emotions but harder to maintain it, especially when you have two hours + watch time. The films fail to keep up with its length and ends up being an element of boredom and lackluster storyline.
The cast is not to blame here but the director and the editor, who seem to be one person: Gotam Tinnanuri. The movie release had been postpended multiple times before finally deciding to give it a go. However, it was in tough times of competition.
Jersey is a slow and emotional movie but not a commercial one unlike its competitors. This is one of the reasons behind the film’s unfortunate collapse at the box office. The movies it was competing against were highly energetic and with a greater potential of lucrative business.
The Hindi Cinema itself has had a not so decent year. Major Bollywood projects took a nosedive in collecting revenue as they, for the first time ever, were beaten in the race with their Southern counterparts.
‘Jersey’ was one of the Hindi films which took the toll.
On the OTT platform, Jersey was watched 4.4 million times in the first week on Netflix, which is not bad if you compare to our local Pakistani projects.
Jersey’s context is also a debatable one. In the times of distress and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 and then the inflation, the masses were looking forward to a more positive and an enjoyable driven source of entertainment. With the storyline, it was apparent that Jersey was not in any way helping the population in that.
Despite the downfall, Jersey succeeds in creating a loyal fanbase and get recognized. People have not watched Jersey, but they are aware of it. And they will watch it one day or another and will be moved by it.
Jersey is currently streaming on Netflix and is among the trending content of Netflix Pakistan.
