Diljit Dosanjh in a still from the Jogi trailer. (Photo: Netflix)Netflix on Tuesday unveiled the first trailer for director Ali Abbas Zafar’s upcoming drama film , set during the Delhi riots of 1984 and starring Diljit Dosanjh in the title role. The film tells the story of three friends fighting for survival across three tumultuous days of violence.
The trailer opens with Jogi enjoying breakfast with his family, seemingly during the calm before the storm. But as gunshots ring through their neighbourhood, which is soon invaded by violent mobs, the protagonist attempts to flee the city with his family and travel to Punjab, which is the safest place they can be in.
We see shots of riot-ravaged streets, and the mass exodus of Sikhs trying to find safety. The trailer suggests that the exodus was ‘the biggest human heist’ ever witnessed. The trailer also projects Jogi as a saviour figure of sorts.
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots were fuelled by the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, and resulted in the deaths of thousands of Sikhs across the country, but mainly in the capital. The riots were previously portrayed on film in 2014’s Punjab 1984, also starring Diljit, and in 31st October, starring Vir Das.
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This is Zafar’s second major streaming project, after the controversial Amazon Prime Video series Tandav, starring Saif Ali Khan. Jogi reunites the filmmaker with Tandav actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub. The film also stars Kumud Mishra, Hiten Tejwani, Amyra Dastur and Paresh Pahuja. Jogi will be released on Netflix on September 16.
Primarily a singer, Diljit’s most popular Hindi-language films are perhaps Udta Punjab and Good Newwz. He was last seen in the Punjabi language comedy Honsla Rakh.