Jogi Review: Movie conjures strong feelings of finding hope in the midst of devastation and tragedy
Jogi Movie Rating: 3.5 Stars
Just watched Jogi movie on Netflix. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast: Diljit Dosanjh, Kumud Mishra, Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub, Hiten Tejwani, Amyra Dastur, Paresh Pahuja, Neelu Kohli, Mikhail Yawalkar, Saurabh Chauhan and Sadanand Patil
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Release Date: 16th September 2022 on Netflix
Story: Set in Delhi, film begins with Jogi (Diljit Dosanjh) and his family going about their daily lives in Trilokpuri but they are soon interrupted by the devastating news of Indira Gandhi’s assassination. This led to outrage and hatred toward Sikhs, resulting in a mass massacre of people from the community. Anti-Sikh riots broke out in Delhi post the killing of the erstwhile PM at the hands of a Sikh.
Tejpal Arora (Kumud Mishra) is the MLA of Trilokpuri and realizes that his chances of getting a ticket in the Lok Sabha elections would be more if he massacres Sikhs in his constituency. He orders Inspector Kuldeep and Inspector Rawinder Chautala (Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub) to help the rioters with the massacre. He is an old friend of Jogi and he doesn’t agree with the idea of killing innocent people. He meets Jogi in the Gurudwara and advises him that he should run away with his family to Punjab where he’ll be the safest.
Jogi refuses and makes it clear that he’ll escape with everyone present in the shrine. cuts his hair short with a heavy heart and puts down his turban so that he doesn’t look like a Sikh. Both then approach their friend Kaleem Ansari (Paresh Pahuja), who runs a truck business. Kaleem gets a truck ready and the trio fills a portion of the vehicle with weapons and other items.
The truck is taken to the Gurudwara and Jogi orders the senior citizens and the kids to hop on the truck. Chautala escorts the truck with his police vehicle so that he doesn’t get stopped or frisked. Meanwhile, Inspector Katiyal aka Lali (Hiten Tejwani) who is an old enemy of Jogi learns about the latter’s plan and complains about it to Tejpal.
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. Screenplay
3. Cinematography
4. Story
5. Direction
Negatives
1. Music
2. 2nd Half
3. Climax
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie in cinemas because it looks excellent be it story, music or cinematography.
Amidthe riots in 1980s India, three friends a Sikh, Joginder aka Jogi, a Hindu, Ravinder Chautala and a Muslim, Kaleem Ansari band together in a noble yet dangerous effort to save hundreds of their own people.
A very sensitive and exciting tale of how a brave Sikh risks his own life to save the lives of his brethren. The story captures the audience’s attention because it is a sensitive human drama. Having said that, it must be added that stories about the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination have been seen in earlier films too. Screenplay moves at such a fast pace that it doesn’t give the viewers time to think. The drama has its share of tension-ridden moments to keep the audience hooked on completely. The love story of Jogi is a little sketchy and, therefore, does not have as much of an impact as it should’ve had. Direction is wonderful and Ali has handled the drama with the right amount of sensitivity. He has also extracted very good work from out of his actors.
The biggest victory of the film lies in the fact that it makes you cheer for the victory of the characters in the narrative. The intermission block when the first truck reaches Punjab despite all troubles is a claptrap moment. Another heart-warming moment in the narrative is when Jogi goes out of the way to get a bottle of milk for a new-born baby in the most adverse scenario. It’s a metaphor used by Ali to celebrate the triumph of the human spirit over hate. While the love story does bring a different dimension to the tale, it acts as a hindrance in pre-climax. The filmmaker could have gotten done with the placement of flashbacks in the first half. The pace dips at times, but it’s a smartly written screenplay that gets back on track before spilling to far from the core conflict.
This heart-moving tale of humanity and friendship will leave you with a heart full of emotions. Overall it’s a film made with the right intentions thereby touching the right chords of emotion. Despite the flaws movie has its heart in the right place thereby leaving an impact. Also tells a moving tale in a sensitive and yet mainstream manner and rests on the brilliant performances of star-cast. However, the weak second half dilutes the impact to an extent. My view on this movie Highly Recommended.
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