Is ‘Jersey’ Based on a True Story?

Netflix is known for providing subscribers exciting new titles from all around the world, which makes it the perfect home for recently released sports drama film Jersey. The Indian Hindi-language title written and directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri follows former cricketer Arjun Talwar (Shahid Kapoor), who attempts to return to the sport he loves at the age of 36 in efforts to make ends meet, prove his skills, and, most of all, make his son’s dream of acquiring an Indian national cricket team jersey with their last name on it come true.

Jersey was originally planned to have a 2020 release, but saw its scheduling pushed back due to delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The film was released theatrically on April 22, and on a bigger international scale for home viewing on Netflix on May 20.

Is Jersey Based on a True Story?

Jersey is actually a remake of a 2019 sports-drama film of the same name, which was also written and directed by Tinnanuri and followed much of the same central plot, but was instead written and performed in the Indian Telugu-language and starred Nani as Arjun. The original Jersey was met with critical acclaim and walked away a winner at the National Film Awards, South Indian International Movie Awards, Zee Cine Awards Telugu, and Critics Choice Film Awards.

The 2019 version of Jersey‘s success consequentially sparked questions of whether or not the film was based on a true story, leading many viewers to believe that it was based on the life of Raman Lamba. Lamba was a talented and popular Indian cricket player who ultimately suffered an untimely death from an internal hemorrhage three days after being hit in the head with a cricket ball during a match in 1998. Tinnanuri, however, has refuted these claims and asserts that both the 2019 and 2022 versions of Jersey are purely works of fiction.

So there you have it, folk: Jersey is not based on a true story.

Jersey is available for streaming on Netflix.