"I never wanted to be part of a remake again (after 'Kabir Singh'). I wanted to do an original film because people might think I am only doing remakes, but when I saw the film (Jersey), it touched my heart. Although it is based on cricket, it tells the story of a 36-year-old guy who has a six year old son. He used to play cricket but he quit the game. For certain reasons, at the age of 36, he decides to play cricket again because that's the only thing he knows," Shahid said while interacting with the media at Star Screen Awards on Monday in Mumbai.
He added: "Personally, I could relate with this story because, too, am 38 years old. Sometimes, I also used to feel that I am not delivering a blockbuster film, so what should I do? Should I try something else? There is a time in everyone's life when we wonder why we are not doing well in life. Then you do something else, or make some kind of compromise."
Shahid said he could relate to the the original Telugu film tremendously. "Deep down, I feel you should do things you love or feel connected to, whether you get success or not. You should feel satisfaction in heart while doing what you do. That's the message of this film. Actually, I cried four times when I saw the film. This character is not like Kabir Singh at all. He is very quiet and introverted in nature. But his journey is inspiring," the actor said.
Shahid Kapoor scored his first blockbuster in a long time with "Kabir Singh" earlier this year. The film, a remake of the Telugu blockbuster "Arjun Reddy", minted more than Rs 300 crore at the box office.
A few days ago, Shahid took to Instagram to share a video of his cricket practice session, as part of the preparation process for his role in "Jersey". In the video, he is seen hitting a clean six over mid-on. He shared the video saying, "#jersey #prep."
The Hindi version of "Jersey", scheduled to open to August 28 next year, also features Mrunal Thakur. The film will be directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri, who also helmed the Telugu original.
( With inputs from IANS )