I admit that I almost stayed away from Jaggi. I wasn't familiar with anyone involved, I wasn't sure of how the central ideas would be explored, and I worried about making myself look a bit silly. Then I remembered that I've often looked silly, and that's not the worst thing in the world, especially while trying to spread the good word about a movie that many others may also not be aware of.
Jaggi is all about the titular character (played by Ramnish Chaundhary), a young man who starts to struggle with impotence. His struggle is initially made all the worse by the fact that everyone around him seems to be obsessed with sex and masturbation. It then gets even worse when everyone starts to assume that Jaggi being impotent equates to Jaggi being gay, which seems him targeted repeatedly by men who use and abuse him.
Written and directed by Anmol Sidhu, making his feature debut, this is a jaw-dropping and searing dissection of toxic masculinity and abuse that makes up a part of, but is in no way exclusive to, Indian society. Sidhu tackles his main subject with a fearlessness that puts viewers on edge from very early on, especially when you know that things could keep going from bad to worse for the main character.
Chaundhary does a superb job in the main role, especially when you consider that he is also making a feature debut (according to the information I could find). It's a performance that requires the actor to be incredibly vulnerable in a way rarely seen onscreen. Although they are playing characters who are the polar opposite of the lead, both Harmandeep Singh and Gaurav Kumar also do excellent work as Jaggi's main tormentors. Starting off by pretending to be friendly to our lead, even pretending that they have medicine to cure his impotence, both Singh and Kumar play two men who deserve to be in the running when you discuss the most awful and disgusting abusers in all of cinema, and their abuse is underlined by the fact that they see themselves as ultra-masculine "winners" taking advantage of one weak gay victim.
It should be obvious to people that this is uncomfortable viewing, from the many homophobic slurs thrown around onscreen to the horrible scenes that keep the camera focused on moments of extended sexual abuse, but it's also worth trying to stick with for the 114-minute runtime. Sidhu works hard to maintain a balance between what is shown, and there's plenty shown, and what is heavily implied (with the blocking, character positions, etc).
Not one that I would swiftly recommend to everyone, but Jaggi is a film that I recommend to film fans who are pre-warned about the content. I doubt I'll ever rewatch it, but I also doubt that I'll ever forget it. Astonishing and disturbing stuff, and I look forward to whatever Sidhu does next.
9/10
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