Jersey not based on Raman Lamba

Young director Gowtam Tinnanuri is drawing lot of appreciation for his latest offering 'Jersey' which has opened to record-breaking openings. Any real-life inspiration for his sports-centric drama?

"Years ago, commentator Harsha Bhogle was in Hyderabad to give a lecture. He said that there are many talents like Sachin Tendulkar but only Sachin could reach the top because of his attitude. More than the talk about Sachin's success, what got me thinking is the fact that several people as talented as him have fallen by the wayside.

They couldn't become successful for different reasons. Why not tell one such story, is what I thought," Is it anyway based on the life late cricketer Raman Lamba? "Raman Lamba died on the pitch while playing. The story of 'Jersey' is entirely different. There is no link between the two," he adds.

Talking about the research for his script, he disclosed, "I have always loved to watch cricket. So, I didn't have to do any research for that. But the scripting took a lot of time. I had this story ready long back. I wanted it to be my first movie. But circumstances made me to do 'Malli Raava' first."