Jogi narrates a story that takes place during the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots that ended up in the loss of countless Sikh lives. The social issue-thriller-drama movie is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Set in 1984 Delhi, the violence against Sikhs has been widespread after the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards for conducting ‘Operation Blue Star’.
Jogi (Diljit Dosanjh) and his family are ordinary people who couldn’t fathom what was coming next. One day, when Jogi is returning home with his father for his nephew’s birthday, he realises that riots have begun against Sikhs.
They witness Sikhs getting burnt alive. Jogi finds his family hiding and his sister, Heer, reeling from the loss of her husband, Tajinder, who was torched alongside his shop.
Meanwhile, Tejpal, a local corrupt politican, is offering rewards to police for killing Sikhs. He even orders them to free the ruthless criminals through a secret passage in the Trilokpuri area.
Rawinder, one of the policemen, turns out to be a good friend of Jogi. He locates Jogi and his neighbours hiding in a Gurudwara.
He offers the chance for Jogi and his family to escape along with him, but he declines. For Jogi, the entire neighbourhood is his family, and he wants to save everyone.
He cuts his hair to not give away his identity as a Sikh, and he and Rawinder ask another friend of theirs, Kaleem Ansari, for a truck to escape. He agrees to the request.
First, Jogi and Rawinder load the truck with elders and children, forced to leave Heer behind. They set a course for Mohali to find shelter.
Along the way, they hit a snag due to a lack of fuel. Navigating through Tejpal’s warehouses to secure it, they tread on ahead.
Tejpal is given the hint that Rawinder is collaborating with the Sikhs of Lane 6. He orders Rawinder to eliminate the lane.
He and Jogi take a detour and shift bodies from lane 22 to lane 6, burning down everything there.
At one checkpost, their truck is searched and the ruse is exposed. Jogi and Rawinder fight through the pair of guards and escape. The beaten-down guards then call Tejpal to inform him that a cop is involved.
The two successfully take all on board the truck to Mohali. Jogi’s mother implores him to save Heer, and he promises to do the same.
However, Tejpal is now aware of Rawinder’s involvement. When he tries to act as if he destroyed lane 6, Tejpal and Lali tell him they’re aware that the bodies belong to lane 22.
Tejpal threatens him to bring Jogi or risk himself and his family being burnt as well. Rawinder asks Lali not to do this to their friend, but he replies that Jogi is his enemy.
Rawinder attempts another diversion. He informs Tejpal and Lali that all the Sikhs are hiding in the Gurudwara and to use all their forces to capture them.
But when they arrive, everyone has escaped. But Lali isn’t about to give up so easily. He tracks down the owner of the truck and figures out that it belongs to Kaleem.
He enters his house but doesn’t find Kaleem and Jogi hiding there. However, Jogi knows him and realises that he has figured out the location of all the Sikhs; the local Dargah.
Jogi scrambles to help them escape, with Lali hot on their trail. This sets up the finale of the film.
Jogi ending explained in detail:
What happened between Jogi and Lali?
As Jogi and others hide, Lali gets closer to their location, finally finding them. Jogi holds his gun to his own head and tells him to finish this once and for all.
The details behind their enmity is revealed. 3 years ago, when Jogi was studying at Delhi University, he started a relationship with Kammo, Lali’s sister.
Despite his reservations about how this would affect Lali, Kammo insisted on being together. Eventually, they got married secretly.
Jogi got a job at Jal Nigam and was finally ready to talk to Lali about it directly. But when he arrived at their house, he found that Kammo was dead.
Lali revealed that Kammo wasn’t well because she was pregnant with Jogi’s child. He tried forcing her to marry the man of his choice to save their reputation, but she ended up severing her nerves and committing suicide.
In the present day, Lali still blames Jogi. However, Jogi replies that he loved her truly and it was his refusal to accept their relationship that killed Kammo. Her death was tragic for not just him, but Jogi as well.
He asks Lali to kill him if that would help him sleep at night. But he is unable to go through with it and weeps about how everything has turned out.
How does Tejpal capture Jogi and Rawinder?
Jogi and Rawinder come up with a plan to help the Sikhs escape. They realise that the Trilokpuri jail is actually the last place the police will look right now.
Rawinder helps them enter under the noses of the police through the very same passage they had used earlier in the film to let the criminals escape.
After transporting everyone to the jail, Jogi and Rawinder return to take Daler, who had been shot, to a doctor. But he has been captured by the police, and they apprehend the two as well.
The three are brought to Trilokpuri jail and left at the mercy of Tejpal. He offers to let Jogi and his family go if he provides them with the location of all those hiding. Jogi refuses.
How does Jogi die? Who ends up saving the Sikhs?
Frustrated at this, Tejpal shoots Daler in the head and Jogi in the chest. Looking at this, Heer screams in anguish, giving away their location.
Tejpal’s men find them and are about to burn them down but the Indian army intervenes in time to save their lives. It turns out that Lali called them after having a change of heart.
Jogi is overjoyed at the safety of those he worked hard to protect. Looking at his sister, now free, he succumbs to his injuries.
His friends and sister cannot stop their tears at the loss. Jogi is given his turban back as well as his kada (religious iron bangle), finally free to regain his identity, albeit posthumously.
In the end, it wasn’t just Jogi or Lali that saved numerous Sikh lives, but the combined efforts of him and his friends. Friendship and love ultimately prevailed, but could not prevent Jogi’s sacrifice for the greater good.
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