Punjabi singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh is currently enjoying the success of his last film 'Jogi', which was released on Netflix. The sensitive film is centred around the anti-Sikh riots that erupted in Delhi after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in Delhi in 1984. Helmed by ace director Ali Abbas Zafar, who's best known for 'Gunday', 'Sultan' and 'Tiger Zinda Hai', the issue dealt in the film is certainly one that needs to be narrated with credibility and in a sensitive manner.
Not just the riots, ‘Jogi’ is also a story of three friends who unite to save hundreds during the riots that tear apart their city. It also stars Kumud Mishra, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, Hiten Tejwani and Amyra Dastur.
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However, before ‘Jogi’, there have been several attempts to depict the gruesome historical facts in cinema, novels and web shows.
The starting point was Gulzar’s ‘Maachis’, which brought to fore the 1980’s Punjab on celluloid. The filmmaker focused on Punjab’s turbulent times in his true portrayal of the historic facts. Next up was the 2003 Punjabi film ‘Hawayein’, which was directed by Amitoj Mann, and starred Babbu Mann and Mahi Gill in the lead roles. These two films aided several Punjabi filmmakers to open up on the unspeakable crimes committed against Sikhs during the riots of 1984.
Moving ahead, several films ‘Amu’, ‘Kaya Taran’, ‘1984: A Sikh Story’, ‘Kush’,’Dilli 1984’, ‘47 to 84’, ‘Rubaru Roshni’ and ‘31st October’ were made on the 1984 riots.
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Gurdas Maan starrer ‘Des Hoyaa Pardes’, which came out a year after ‘Hawayein’, was highly praised. Helmed by Manoj Punj, the film was honoured with the National Award for Best Feature Film in Punjabi.
Not just ‘Jogi’, Diljit Dosanjh also starred in ‘Punjab 1984’ (2014). The film starred Kirron Kher as his mother, and revolves around the life of the mother, who tries to find her missing son after he is illegally taken by the police. It certainly proved to be a turning point for Diljit’s career.
One cannot miss ‘Chauthi Koot’ (The Fourth Direction), directed by Gurvinder Singh, which was released in 2015. It followed two different stories after Operation Blue Star., based on two short stories from Waryam Singh Sandhu’s 2005 collection ‘Chauthi Koot’.
Upcoming projects
In September last year, Vivek Agnihotri, known for ‘The Kashmir Files’, took to Twitter to announce ‘The Delhi Files’ as the last film in his trilogy of films on true incidents. Apart from that, ‘Widow Colony’ was also announced by Gippy Grewal, which will be written and directed by Smeep Kang.
Web show ‘Grahan’ revolving around the 1984 riots was recently released on Disney+Hotstar. It is based on Chaurasi by Satya Vyas.
Coming back to ‘Jogi’ yet again, Diljit in the titular character, unites with his three other friends, to save hundreds during the riots that tear apart Delhi. Apart from Diljit, the film's lead star cast includes Kumud Mishra, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, Hiten Tejwani and Amyra Dastur. It started streaming on Netflix from September 16.
