{"id":9829,"date":"2022-05-06T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/?p=9829"},"modified":"2022-05-04T11:42:22","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T15:42:22","slug":"movie-review-jersey-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/2022\/05\/movie-review-jersey-2022.html","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review : Jersey (2022)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Rating : \u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f1\/2<\/em>
Genre:<\/strong> Drama
Year<\/strong>: 2022
Running time<\/strong>: 2 hours 50 minutes
Director<\/strong>: Gowtam Tinnanuri
Cast<\/strong>: Shahid Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur, Pankaj Kapoor, Ronit Kamra
Kid rating<\/strong>: PG<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think time might be going backwards. Because what else would explain dumb stories like this one actually making it to the silver screen? Now, now, I\u2019m not saying I hated it but hear me out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First things first: The film is about Arjun (Shahid) a 36 year old ex-cricketer, who wasn\u2019t good enough for the Indian cricket team. For Arjun professional cricket is 10 years in the past. He\u2019s also been let go from his job because of alleged corruption charges, and so he sits at home, unwilling to move on, while his wife runs the household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One fine day, his little son Kittu (Ronit Kamra) asks him for a cricket jersey costing Rs 500. Arjun doesn\u2019t have that kind of money, and frustration at being unable to even buy a gift for his son propels him to train for professional cricket again. The goal is to remain a \u201chero\u201d in his son\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jersey then is Arjun\u2019s story of redemption, given his son\u2019s adoration and egged on by his former coach\u2019s enthusiastic support. His wife Vidya isn\u2019t very gung-ho about the whole trying-on-cricket-again thing but Arjun goes about achieving his goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you probably know, this is a copy of the Telugu original helmed by the very same director. It\u2019s also an underdog story, with lot\u2019s of cricket, family-drama, and emotional pathos thrown in. And yes, it works. Because even as I\u2019m shaking my head at the asinine lead character, I\u2019m also engaged by the on-screen theatrics and the father-son bonding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the negative side, this is an old-school (gave me an 80s feel) film with a macho character given to violent outbursts (angry young man) and a hankering for \u201cprinciples\u201d. The female lead, despite being the breadwinner and the one holding together the family, is merely a supportive extra in Arjun\u2019s glorious comeback story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director Tinnanuri doesn\u2019t cut corners when it comes to giving his hero his all. There are no nuances to Arjun\u2019s struggle – despite being out of practice and out of shape for the 10 years of non-cricket, Arjun comes out batting hard, hitting the ball for sixers like there\u2019s no tomorrow. There\u2019s also Arjun\u2019s former coach, Baali (Pankaj Kapoor), who despite all Arjun\u2019s missteps remains Arjun\u2019s most stanch supporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arjun\u2019s character checks all the boxes required of a Bollywood hero. He eats, breathes, drives around on a motorbike and gets into skirmishes when someone makes remarks about his lady-love. In Arjun I saw flashes of Kabir Singh<\/strong><\/a> – the anger and the goal of maintaining the \u201chero\u2019s bravado\u201d to the exclusion of all else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is much pathos here and much of what I call \u201cfalse\u201d pathos. True, Arjun is in a bad situation, but what propels him to finally take action is not shame at a wasted life, but how he appears to his young son – never mind the wife who\u2019s selflessly slaving away trying to sustain her family. Bollywood affords heroes a laxity never extended to heroines. While Vidya\u2019s character stretches from amorous lady-love making out with Arjun at his cricketing sessions, to dignified, sari-clad wife and mother making ends meet sans any help from her partner, Arjun merely has to think of himself and his cricket. And get lauded for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troubling thing about films like Jersey is that they portray everyday misogyny (without even knowing that they do?). It was easier to spot in Kabir Singh or The Great Indian Kitchen<\/strong><\/a>, but it is in this film too, nonetheless. Arjun loves his wife, and does not abuse her, but her support is taken for granted. Because of course, while he whiles away his life, moaning about lack of money, while not taking good jobs that are offered to him, the selfless woman in his life must slave at her job and her home! While he makes this all about his goals, no one is actually giving a whit about the toll it takes on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jersey, while predictable and too long (3 hours!!!), is watchable. It falls very short of full-throated approval because of it\u2019s dumb hero and his hard-to-root-for actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kidwise<\/strong>: Some kissing, but otherwise clean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rating : \u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f1\/2 Genre: Drama Year: 2022 Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes Director: Gowtam Tinnanuri Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur, Pankaj Kapoor, Ronit Kamra Kid rating: PG I think time might be going backwards. Because what else would explain … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_17000648_17000648":"","facebook_10233691416821117_190635594420624":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[251,14,212,11,29,176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-251","category-drama","category-new-films","category-rating-pg","category-romance","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jersey-Movie-Revew.jpg?fit=400%2C520&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jersey-Movie-Revew.jpg?fit=400%2C520&ssl=1",400,520,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jersey-Movie-Revew.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jersey-Movie-Revew.jpg?fit=231%2C300&ssl=1",231,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jersey-Movie-Revew.jpg?fit=400%2C520&ssl=1",400,520,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jersey-Movie-Revew.jpg?fit=400%2C520&ssl=1",400,520,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jersey-Movie-Revew.jpg?fit=400%2C520&ssl=1",400,520,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jersey-Movie-Revew.jpg?fit=400%2C520&ssl=1",400,520,true],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jersey-Movie-Revew.jpg?resize=400%2C198&ssl=1",400,198,true],"sow-carousel-default":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jersey-Movie-Revew.jpg?resize=272%2C182&ssl=1",272,182,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"amodini","author_link":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/author\/admin"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Rating : \u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f1\/2 Genre: Drama Year: 2022 Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes Director: Gowtam Tinnanuri Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur, Pankaj Kapoor, Ronit Kamra Kid rating: PG I think time might be going backwards. 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