New Delhi: The Punjab of Hindi films is different from reality, says Jaggi filmmaker Anmol Sidhu, who believes native storytellers need to present the true picture of the state.
Sidhu's "Jaggi" has been described by critics as a sharp attack on the highly toxic macho culture among the youth of Punjab. The film, which won awards at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) and the inaugural Cineaste International Festival (CIFF), is now streaming on streaming platform MUBI.
“You will see the reality of Punjab in Chandigarh, in Panjab University. Then you will come to the rural areas where you will see a different Punjab.Bollywood makes movies about Punjab where people are dancing in the fields. You will have comedy scenes and that also makes you think that Punjab is like this. Sidhu said in an interview, "In fact, my family members often ask me why I don't make films like Bollywood, but With 'Jaggi' my attempt was to show the reality of Punjab."
There has been a flood of stories that have started presenting a more nuanced portrayal, often addressing social issues like the drug problem and socio-political issues in the state, with films and OTT shows like "Udta Punjab", "Mee Patthar" Do it. "Fog" and "Tabbar".
Sidhu has an interesting opinion on this as he believes that the producers of these films and shows are not actually from Punjab."It is not people from Punjab who are making films about the state. It is people from outside who have explored different stories of the state. 'Kohra' is a good show but it is not made by someone coming from Punjab. Is.
“There are only a few storytellers from Punjab like Gurvinder (Singh) C or Jatinder Mauhar, who are trying to show something different. I believe that filmmakers from Punjab should make cinema that reflects the reality of the state.Even the actors from Punjab are from Punjab and still don't get the work they deserve,'' he added.
Ramneesh Choudhary, who plays the lead role of Jaggi, said that he never imagined that the journey of the film would be like this. Choudhary said, "I never expected it to go to any film festival... We came together to create this character. I dedicated myself to Anmol's vision.,
"Jaggi" marks the feature directorial debut of Sidhu, who previously made the 2020 noise film "The Last Tree."
Crafted from a behavioral perspective, the film addresses issues of toxic masculinity and challenges stereotypical portrayals of Punjabi masculinity by depicting the troubled story of its title character. Navigating between the past and present experiences of the central character, the film At first, Jaggi faces severe bullying and repeated sexual harassment at her school in rural Punjab. It then focuses on the time when Jaggi is about to get engaged and how his past experiences still haunt him.
With the film, Sidhu said it was aimed to highlight the issues of sexual harassment and severe gender segregation prevalent in her community."To be honest, when I made the film I was not aware of terms like hyper masculinity. When I was writing the film, my understanding of life in Punjab was simple - that a girl and a boy are alone together. Can't meet. And because of this, there is a lot of frustration among young people." This is what Sidhu has tried to show in "Jaggi".
“It's all about the frustrations of young men and how they take it out on young children or vulnerable people.I imagined how would a person's life be affected if this happened to them?"
Sidhu believes that easy access to adult videos as well as songs and films coming from Punjab has given rise to the problem of sexual frustration among the youth. "At present, the kind of songs coming from Punjab are not acceptable to the public. But it is having a very bad influence. Everyone wants to follow the singers and act like them."
"Jaggi" is built in DIY (do it yourself) fashion.
“We did not get any proper financing for this film.The producers used to give us their salary, which was Rs 10,000, which they got at the end of the month. And this helped us a lot for travel and food. Things happened slowly over time. The cameras I used were borrowed from my friends. "We learned on the job and did everything ourselves, including dubbing and editing.,
With the film being available on MUBI, Sidhu believes he can now move on in life.
"I think the journey is about to end now. We started work on this film in March 2020... After the film was made, we faced difficulties in releasing it. For almost a year, it was not available in any The film didn't go to festivals...I thought what would happen if I didn't screen it somewhere?" But I believe every film comes with a journey. This film has had its own journey and is finally coming to MUBI."
Sidhu's "Jaggi" has been described by critics as a sharp attack on the highly toxic macho culture among the youth of Punjab. The film, which won awards at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) and the inaugural Cineaste International Festival (CIFF), is now streaming on streaming platform MUBI.
“You will see the reality of Punjab in Chandigarh, in Panjab University. Then you will come to the rural areas where you will see a different Punjab.Bollywood makes movies about Punjab where people are dancing in the fields. You will have comedy scenes and that also makes you think that Punjab is like this. Sidhu said in an interview, "In fact, my family members often ask me why I don't make films like Bollywood, but With 'Jaggi' my attempt was to show the reality of Punjab."
There has been a flood of stories that have started presenting a more nuanced portrayal, often addressing social issues like the drug problem and socio-political issues in the state, with films and OTT shows like "Udta Punjab", "Mee Patthar" Do it. "Fog" and "Tabbar".
Sidhu has an interesting opinion on this as he believes that the producers of these films and shows are not actually from Punjab."It is not people from Punjab who are making films about the state. It is people from outside who have explored different stories of the state. 'Kohra' is a good show but it is not made by someone coming from Punjab. Is.
“There are only a few storytellers from Punjab like Gurvinder (Singh) C or Jatinder Mauhar, who are trying to show something different. I believe that filmmakers from Punjab should make cinema that reflects the reality of the state.Even the actors from Punjab are from Punjab and still don't get the work they deserve,'' he added.
Ramneesh Choudhary, who plays the lead role of Jaggi, said that he never imagined that the journey of the film would be like this. Choudhary said, "I never expected it to go to any film festival... We came together to create this character. I dedicated myself to Anmol's vision.,
"Jaggi" marks the feature directorial debut of Sidhu, who previously made the 2020 noise film "The Last Tree."
Crafted from a behavioral perspective, the film addresses issues of toxic masculinity and challenges stereotypical portrayals of Punjabi masculinity by depicting the troubled story of its title character. Navigating between the past and present experiences of the central character, the film At first, Jaggi faces severe bullying and repeated sexual harassment at her school in rural Punjab. It then focuses on the time when Jaggi is about to get engaged and how his past experiences still haunt him.
With the film, Sidhu said it was aimed to highlight the issues of sexual harassment and severe gender segregation prevalent in her community."To be honest, when I made the film I was not aware of terms like hyper masculinity. When I was writing the film, my understanding of life in Punjab was simple - that a girl and a boy are alone together. Can't meet. And because of this, there is a lot of frustration among young people." This is what Sidhu has tried to show in "Jaggi".
“It's all about the frustrations of young men and how they take it out on young children or vulnerable people.I imagined how would a person's life be affected if this happened to them?"
Sidhu believes that easy access to adult videos as well as songs and films coming from Punjab has given rise to the problem of sexual frustration among the youth. "At present, the kind of songs coming from Punjab are not acceptable to the public. But it is having a very bad influence. Everyone wants to follow the singers and act like them."
"Jaggi" is built in DIY (do it yourself) fashion.
“We did not get any proper financing for this film.The producers used to give us their salary, which was Rs 10,000, which they got at the end of the month. And this helped us a lot for travel and food. Things happened slowly over time. The cameras I used were borrowed from my friends. "We learned on the job and did everything ourselves, including dubbing and editing.,
With the film being available on MUBI, Sidhu believes he can now move on in life.
"I think the journey is about to end now. We started work on this film in March 2020... After the film was made, we faced difficulties in releasing it. For almost a year, it was not available in any The film didn't go to festivals...I thought what would happen if I didn't screen it somewhere?" But I believe every film comes with a journey. This film has had its own journey and is finally coming to MUBI."
