Actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh recently featured in the Netflix film 'Jogi'. Set in Delhi in 1984, the film also stars Kumud Mishra, Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub, Hiten Tejwani and Amyra Dastur. ‘Jogi’ unravels the story of a resilient friendship amid times of adversity when the national capital city was plagued by anti-Sikh riots after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination.
The film has been getting rave reviews from the audience and critics alike. Amyra Dastur, who played Kammo, the love interest of Diljit’s character Jogi, spoke to Outlook about what made her take up the project.
“It is a real responsibility to play a role in a film which talks about a topic like the 1984 riots, because it is not very far behind in terms of time. It happened in 1984, which is not very historic or long ago. It was surprising to me that I never heard about such riots when I was young. It wasn’t until I was offered this role. Nobody around me ever spoke about it. That’s what I found very surprising for me and made me take up the past even more because I felt people should know about the incidents,” she said.
Amyra further revealed that the essence of the film lies in brotherhood. “It is imperative for cinema to bring things to light and that’s what the intention of ‘Jogi’ was, to showcase a beautiful film about friendship and about helping people in times of great adversity. That’s the essence of ‘Jogi’ to help thy neighbour, to help the strangers,” Amyra asserted.
Her character of Kammo is both fun and fearless and certainly a break from the otherwise serious setting of the film.
Talking about how she approached the role, Amyra revealed, “My character Kammo is like the ray of light during a storm and that’s how I wanted to portray her. The movie is serious, violent, and dark. At a point, we all feel that you need a little bit of hope and that’s what Kammo had to be with pureness and sincerity. If I couldn’t manage that, I feel I would have ruined the film. It was a flashback scene but it can still manage to uplift the audience.”
The film has been directed and co-produced by Ali Abbas Zafar, who is known for films like 'Sultan' and 'Tiger Zinda Hai'. Produced by Himanshu Kishan Mehra and Ali Abbas Zafar, 'Jogi' premiered on Netflix on September 16, 2022.
