Jogi is the kind of political drama you would like to get behind, dealing as it does with the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi in 1984. There have been only a handful of films and documentaries about the attacks that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. There is far greater documentation in the news media and academia about the complicity of politicians from Gandhi’s Congress Party in the slaughter of Sikhs and the attacks on their homes and businesses.
The latest screen version of the horrors of 1984, however, is as ineffective as it is well-intentioned. Ali Abbas Zafar’s film, which is being streamed on Netflix, is a budget Schindler’s List-style saga of courage under fire.
Zafar’s screenplay, co-written with Sukhmani Sadana, views events through the prism of a thriller. There are valorous escapes, near-misses, and even a deus ex machina as government employee Jogi tries to stay safe and alive,
The film opens on the day of Gandhi’s assassination. The setting is Trilokpuri, the West Delhi neighbourhood that saw some of the worst violence.
Jogi (Diljit Dosanjh), his family and neighbours find themselves trapped from all sides. With the help of Ravinder (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), an old friend who is now in the…
