Jersey is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language sports drama film written and directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri and is produced by Suryadevara Naga Vamsi under his production banner Sithara Entertainments. The film stars Nani and Shraddha Srinath while Harish Kalyan, Sanusha, Sathyaraj, Sampath Raj and Viswant Duddumpudi played other pivotal roles. The film's music is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, with cinematography handled by Sanu John Varghese and editing done by Naveen Nooli respectively.

The film deals with late bloomers, who want to aspire in sports field, but faces several complications.[3] The storyline follows Arjun (Nani), a talented but failed cricketer who decide to return to cricket in his mid-30s, after driven by the desire to represent the Indian Cricket Team, and fulfil his son's wish for a jersey as a gift. Principal photography of the film commenced on 18 October 2018 and completed on March 2019.

Jersey was released worldwide on 19 April 2019, received highly positive critical reviews upon its release. Several reviewers listed the film as one of their best Telugu films in 2019.[4] Nani's performance in the film was appreciated by most critics, in which Film Companion ranked his performance in the list of 100 Greatest Performances of the Decade.[5]

The film won National Film Awards, Best Feature Film in Telugu and Best Editing (Nooli). The film won two awards at the Zee Cine Awards Telugu, and also received five nominations at the Critics Choice Film Awards, where it gained two awards for Best Actor (Nani) and Best Director (Tinnanuri). Tinnanuri also helms the Hindi remake of the film, sharing the same title.[6]

Plot
In 2019 at New York City, A young man buys a book called Jersey from a bookstall but gives it away to a woman who came in to buy the book. When the woman asks for the reason why he gave her the book, the man replies that the book is on the life of his father, Arjun.

In 1986 at Hyderabad, Arjun is an immensely talented Ranji player who is in love with Sarah. Arjun quits cricket when he repeatedly gets rejected to play in the Indian team, due to selection politics. He is given a government job under sports quota, but loses it when he is accused of bribery.

10 years later in 1996, the 36-year old Arjun is jobless and always scolded by his wife Sarah, for not consulting a lawyer to get his job back since he is innocent. Their seven-year-old son Nani, who plays for his school cricket team, asks Arjun for an Indian jersey. Arjun comes to know that the jersey costs ₹500, and despite not having the money, he promises
his son that he will gift him the jersey for his birthday. Arjun finally consults a lawyer for losing his job, but is told that he cannot get his job back until he pays the lawyer. Left with no option, Arjun starts asking money from his friends to buy the jersey but is not successful.

Arjun's ex-coach Murthy approaches him with a request to play in a charity match being planned between the Hyderabad cricket team and New Zealand. Arjun is promised a match fee of ₹1000 as a match fee and based on his performance, a job as the assistant coach. Arjun plays the match and gives a wonderful performance in the match, but finds out that there is no match fee. When Nani asks him for the jersey, Arjun slaps him in a fit of depression.

On realizing the depth of his son's love for him, Arjun decides to play cricket again. Coach Murthy is shocked at first but later supports him. Arjun attends the Hyderabad Ranji team selection trials and based on some stellar performances as a batsman, gets selected to play into the Ranji team, despite his age. Arjun starts representing the team and plays exceptionally good cricket and leads his team to the finals. He also wins back the love of his wife. In the finals, when the Hyderabad team is stuck in a tough situation, Arjun single-handedly leads the team to victory, but he himself collapses soon after the match.

Back in 2019, the adult Nani (the man who bought the book at the beginning) and Sarah are invited to a felicitation ceremony of Arjun in a hotel. Nani gets a gift, the Indian jersey that he had asked his father 23 years ago. Nani reveals that Arjun had died in the hospital 2 days after the Ranji finals - he was suffering from a heart disease called Arrhythmia, causing an irregular heartbeat. Arjun had known about it when he was 26 years old, the real reason why he had quit cricket when he was 26 but never told anyone about it. Nani revels that Arjun is a true fighter as he fought despite knowing the consequences.
Cast
Nani as Arjun
Shraddha Srinath as Sarah
Ronit Kamra as Nani, Arjun's son
Harish Kalyan as adult Nani (cameo appearance)
Viswant Duddumpudi as Nandan (Nandu) Reddy
Sanusha as Journalist Ramya, Nandu's girlfriend
Sathyaraj as Coach Murthy

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