Now Premiering - JERSEY

Jersey - True to the heart. True to its time

Release - 2019

Starring - Nani, Shraddha Srinath, Satyaraj and others.

Director - Gowtham Tinnanuri

Producer - Suryadevara Naga Vamsi

Language - Telugu

Available on - Zee5

                      Jersey is a story of an aspiring cricketer, who in his 20s was a Top Ranji Batsmen and a would be Indian National Cricket Player, but gets doomed by his failure of not getting selected. He bids farewell to his cricketing life, in a rather tragic way, giving up all his hopes on the sport and leading a life of a modelled middle-class father doing a small job and taking care of his family. Arjun now has turned into a sluggish, middle-aged man, having his son to be dropped every morning to his cricket coaching (ironically) followed by his school. Arjun’s new world gets shaken when his inability to buy the birthday gift his son asked due to his dire economic state makes him think about his current lifestyle and where he is best fit in.  Arjun's Coach and his son, very faintly and abstractly still see the talent in Arjun that is glowing but it takes time for him to realize that his seconds cut better inside the cricket boundary than outside. Arjun’s Coach previously advises Arjun to come back to his cricketing world by joining as Sub-Coach in his Academy but he rejects it. Arjun ultimately learns his lesson that his life wouldn't continue if he’s outside the rope and decides to come back, not as a Sub-Coach but as a player again. Will Arjun get selected as a player despite having his age and fitness constraints?? Will he be able to make a mark in the cricketing world once again?? will be successful this time?? is what the movie embarks.

                Jersey is packed with intense underdog melodrama loaded with touching emotions. These emotions are very well designed and written, that they perfectly fit in the story to melt the hearts of the audience. The movie doesn't have the flavour of sportsperson biopic showcasing the rise of the protagonist, rather it is more on the personal scale. The writing along with its direction are the backbone of the movie as they make the movie more relatable and easy to connect with. It savours its emotions by picking the best fruits for them to flesh out, which are its characters. The characters are very interestingly and keenly designed, by making every single role influential and mark something emotional in the hero’s journey. It is a delight to see the way characters are created with such vividness in persona, yet very much realistic and believable to be associated with. By creating them, the story has more creative freedom as there are more characters who cross paths with the protagonist either making the moment more thoughtful or important, but finally more poignant and immersive.

 As of the main characters, the character of Arjun is very well graphed. Arjun character gets written with complete transparency, making him both zing and tetchy, with respect to the time of narration, and not swaying away from showing his greyer shades. It is grasping to watch the greyer shades getting showcased but unfortunately, this flavour gets lost in the latter portions of the movie as the story concentrates more on the heroics and upliftment, which slightly makes the story artificial and less grounded.   Jersey is a litmus test for Nani as he is followed by back to back flops and for an actor coined as Natural Star, named after his ability to completely transform himself into the role, the previous movies were a more or less, commercial and was not witnessed by his finesse acting. Nani, in this movie, nails the part of playing as Arjun, giving strong confidence that his calibre gets ripe the more challenging and moving the script is. Nani grows very naturally into the movie whether it be his sporty and youthful 20s or his timid and sober 30s. He creates magic with his performance as the screen only shows Arjun in his journey and completely masking out Nani’s caricature. Shraddha Srinath as Arjun's wife Sarah also does a satisfying job. After a long time, we get a role like Sarah where the woman gets whelmed with strong qualities. She's not glamourized to make the role peppier nor she is very suppressed. She is just like daily life, slightly independent woman working for her family's wellbeing. The child who plays as Arjun’s son is great and is a treat to watch. Satyaraj as a coach is impressive and his talents get used up well for the fatherly figure in the movie. Few characters, like the hero’s friends, get a bit gimmicky portrayal for the comic relief in the movie which didn't fetch so well but thankfully they just get reduced to the first half.

 The screenplay of the movie is done in a non-linear fashion, which actually is a wise move, as this story gets hooked up until the last moment not leaving the movie more predictable and bland. The movie doesn’t overcome the fact that it is a bit predictable because of its trailer and also the last 5-10 minutes of the movie really feel a bit tiresome after all the heart wrenching emotional ride audience had.

 Production design and the detailing of the movie is surprisingly great. From the sauce bottle to the fridge in the hotel to the posters on the road to the railway stations, nothing seems odd and feels true to its time. The team deserves applause for putting in their best work to create the dated and subtle feel to the premise. The costume design also has a big role in the movie, look out for the outfits Arjun and Sarah wear in their The 20s and in their 30s. In their 20s, Arjun is shown with a brightly lit face and mostly in cricketing outfits that are white or in similarly bright colours, making him complete of every colour and shine his energy all over just like the whites. Sarah wears these vintage dresses having a pinkish or light shade, signifying her love towards Arjun which still is very new and not deep-rooted. In the 30s, Arjun is with a face of a bearded grin with longing eyes for peace and seen wearing darker shades of shirts showing his state that he has stopped spreading and started absorbing what the world throws at him. Similarly, Sarah is seen in a crimson red and deep pink sarees showing that their relationship has grown in a more darker manner(signifying the crimson, which is a darker shade of pinkish red), but still, her love for him is instilled (signifying the red and pink). Finally, when Arjun returns back to cricket he is in the same white outfit but with a black beard showing that his past life has scarred on him and has now completed a full circle.  These small things add up well and ultimately gets the movie into the hearts of the Audience.

                                 Special credit should be given to Dir of Photography Sonu John Varghese who picturised the dynamics and brawling nature of cricket. The depiction of cricket and its process feels very real and natural. He very creatively uses his camera to show the magnitude of the game and how minuscule the hero looks amidst that. He also does well in non-cricketing segments of the movie with his stylised close-ups and backlit shots. Anirudh's music adds soul to the movie along with the background score. The songs flow into and out like breeze without disrupting the flow. The songs set the perfect mood for the characters and the background score adds up as a bonus. Anirudh proves that he is capable to compose not only the energetic and flippant numbers but also the more artistic and emotional ones too.

Though the movie has some flaws in it, it is very touching and connecting and  is absolutely worth the time as it  gets a right mix of drama, performances and technicalities