Mrunal Thakur calls Jersey’s failure ‘disappointing’; says original South version starring Nani could’ve caused it

Mrunal Thakur has opened up about the failure of Jersey at the box office. The film, which also starred Shahid Kapoor and Pankaj Kapur, was made on a budget of ₹80 crore. However, despite positive reviews, it could not even reach ₹20 crore in its collection. Mrunal recently discussed the reasons the film might have not worked at the box office. Also Read| Jersey celeb review: Shahid Kapoor gets praises from ‘lil bro’ Ishaan Khatter, Varun Dhawan and more

The actor said that she thinks the original Telugu version of the film of the same name, which starred Nani in Shahid Kapoor’s role, could have been one of the reasons that affected its earnings. The Telugu version, which won two National Awards, was released in April 2019. Ronit Kamra, who appeared as Nani’s son, played the same role in Shahid’s film. Both the films were directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri.

Mrunal recently told ETimes about the collections at the box office, “It is disappointing. Apart from performances, there are a number of other factors that make a film work like positioning, marketing, etc. We spared no efforts. Maybe it’s a phase. Maybe there’re so many external reasons. I have no clue what is happening. But obviously, you feel a little bummed, and a little low, that maybe it could’ve done better because it’s a good film. Honestly, I was a little low. We will work harder for the next film.”

She added, “The film is in its third week but still some people are going to watch it, and the film is slowly growing. Maybe one of the reasons (it did not work) is that the dubbed Hindi version of the film is airing on television. It’s also available on YouTube. There can be other factors as well.”

Jersey collected just under ₹14 crores in its first weekend. As per Bollywood Hungama, the film has grossed approx ₹17.20 crore until now. The film starred Shahid as Arjun Talwar, a talented but failed cricketer who decides to return to cricket at the age of 36 to prove his ability and fulfill his son’s wish for a jersey as a gift.