The entire media world is going bonkers this week with the Game of Thrones
premier (Winter is Coming) and the release of the Avengers: Endgame (Spring is
coming).
Meanwhile, an excellent film has been released, which will be appreciated by
even casual readers of this space. That film has as its subject a cricket
player, the best player of a lifetime, who tries to stage a comeback at an age
when most players have given up completely. "Jersey" is a newly released
sports drama, which is taking the world's screens by storm. Even in the United
States, where cricket, foreign films, and foreign language films generally all
have a hard time succeeding, the film has had widespread release.
Although a few scenes of the film, especially at the beginning, are in English,
the film is generally in the Telugu language. Telugu is a language primarily
spoken in east central India, whose stellar male lead, it would seem, is also
lead in this film.
That would be Nani, who appears in the film as a washed up government employee,
who was suspended after rightly pointing out corruption in his workplace. He
is unable to return to work because he is unwilling to pay off bribes to the
right officials. He spends his day smoking, drinking, and watching cricket
with his posse, betting rent and electricity money from his wife on these
activities. He has not played cricket since his mid twenties, when he left the
sport upon marriage to Catholic wife, whose family he wants to impress. The
film traces his attempt at a comeback despite scoffing objections from nearly
all of those who hear of it. His team is Hyderabad, well known to readers of
this space. Tall, dark, and handsome Harish Kalyan adds an assist playing
Nani's adult son.
The film includes a lot of cricket action, the likes of which are never seen on
the big screen. The visual imagery is quite well done with good shots of
various scenes throughout the movie. There are twenty minutes or so of
popular music over collaged emotional shots to move the action forward.
The music is good and the effect not too tedious. Telugu is not unpleasant to
listen to and it is peppered with English words and phrases anyway. The actors
freely switch from one to the other, keeping the conversation lively. At two
hours thirty seven minutes, it does take some commitment of time, but the well
written film helps the time to pass quickly. The beautifully shots cricket
scenes fit the big screen so well.
If you have some time this weekend, and are lucky enough to have "Jersey" at a
nearby cinema, don't hesitate to buy a ticket. Let us know what you think.
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