Shahid Kapoor’s long-awaited film Jersey will release with KGF: Chapter 2 on April 14. Jersey also stars Mrunal Thakur and is directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri. The film’s team launched its second trailer on April 4. Shahid and Mrunal interacted with the media during the event.
Jersey is the remake of the Nani-starrer National Award-winning Telugu movie of the same name. Nani likes his films to be remade by Bollywood stars because they will reach a wider audience. “I agree with him. That’s very magnanimous of Nani to say that. He is not selfish about the content that he creates. It’s great of him to wish us on Jersey. I am sure we all are a little possessive about our work, na? There are only that many stories that are called remakes because they are official remakes. I have always said that I did this film because it hit me straight in my heart. I felt like I wanted to tell this story to a wider audience as it motivated me tremendously,” Shahid shares.
Jersey is about a cricketer who was written off and who bounces back. We ask Shahid how he looks at his journey as he too has been written off in the past by critics. “You guys do such a deep analytic study of our career... we never think about such things. We look at everything in an idealistic manner. And we have a lot of passion and a lot of drive inside us. Let the world put you down; you need to hold it. I really feel that sometimes ease and success are more harmful than failure because failure puts a lot of pressure on you to work hard,” he avers.
Opening up about Jersey sharing its release date with KGF: Chapter 2, Shahid explains, “People had told me that after Kabir Singh now you need to do a film worth Rs 150 crores as producers will readily invest money on you. I was like what will be the picture irrespective of the fact that people will readily invest in me. Making a large scale film and making a good film are not always the same thing. I feel good films work at the box office. So if KGF: Chapter 2 is a good film, it will definitely run at the box office, and the same goes for Jersey. The film has to be good.”
Shahid will share screen space with his father, Pankaj Kapur, in Jersey. Speaking about it, he reveals, “Both of us didn’t allow the father-son relationship to come into our profession. We used to find small moments where we could spend father-son time, like during lunch breaks or when we were back in the hotel. Most of the time, I needed to be on the set to be Arjun, and he needed to be coach Bali.”
Mrunal, too is elated to be a part of the film. “The first week of Jersey was very difficult. I was crying during the first week as I felt it was very difficult. The entire team acted as my pillar, and they encouraged me that I can do it,” Mrunal says.
Mrunal is all praise for her co-star. “I am really blessed to be working with Shahid, and it is a dream come true. I will never get tired of how wonderful and secure an actor he is. His performance blew my mind. Shahid never let me feel I have just started my career. He always treated me like family, and I am very happy to have him as a friend as well,” she concludes.
