Brad Pitt's F1 is like a Telugu film, similar to Nani's Jersey, says Naga Vamsi: 'They took a different backdrop'

Producer Naga Vamsi drew comparisons between the Hollywood film F1 and the Tollywood film Jersey, pointing out similarities.

Producer Naga Vamsi’s Sithara Entertainments hit gold when they produced Gowtam Tinnanuri’s 2019 Nani and Shraddha Srinath-starrer Jersey. The film was critically acclaimed for the performances and story, earning two National Film Awards: Best Feature Film – Telugu and Best Editing. In an interview with Gulte, Vamsi drew parallels between the Telugu film and Brad Pitt’s recently released hit, F1.

Naga Vamsi does not believe Brad Pitt's F1 is a copy of Nani's Jersey but he can see the similarities.

F1 similar to Jersey?

Vamsi was talking about how the way a film is packaged and presented makes all the difference when he brought up the similarities between F1 and Jersey. He said, “I know this will turn into a controversy, and the audience might troll me. I liked F1 movie a lot. But towards the end of the film, it reminded me of Jersey. Will he go to the race or not? The medical condition. Everything reminded me of it towards the end.”

While joking that he knows F1 isn’t copied, he admitted he probably feels that because Jersey is his film. “I don’t think an English film would copy from us, but F1 is a lot like a Telugu film, be it the moments or the highs. There’s no kick in sports films unless an underdog wins. But they took a different backdrop and presented the story technically well, which is why everyone liked the film. I am not saying they copied from our film (laughs), but that’s just how I felt,” he said.

Jersey tells the story of a middle-aged man, Arjun, who returns to cricket before it’s too late for him to prove himself to his young son. F1 sees Sonny Hayes, who is around 50 years old, push himself to win an F1 race to help a friend, who is now a team owner.

Upcoming work

Sithara Entertainments’ last film with Balakrishna – Daaku Maharaaj – was a hit when it was released in theatres during Sankranthi. They have numerous films lined up, including Vijay Deverakonda’s Kingdom, Siddhu Jonnalagadda’s Badass, Ravi Teja’s Mass Jathara and Naveen Polishetty’s Anaganaga Oka Raju.