After watching Jaggi, I am at a loss for words. It’s so hard-hitting and disturbing—it makes me want to cry, scream, and just be vulnerable. Jaggi also needed to show all these emotions but couldn’t for fear of being misunderstood, not only by society but also by his own parents. The film is so impactful and distressing, and I feel pain for all who are subjected to conditions as Jaggi. For his impotence, he is referred to as being gay, while at the same time, he gets abused by those same people—how ironic and disturbing it is! On a similar topic, we’ve seen films like Shubh Mangal Saavdhan before, but I think that movie took a much more filtered and palatable approach where it ended on a more positive note, like an “all’s well that ends well” type of magical land. But for those who don’t live in that magical land—like in a rural Punjab village where people are uneducated and have a lack of exposure—they all, including Jaggi himself, question what is wrong with him and think of this condition as a disease. We find his raw emotions where hiding this problem is one issue and revealing it is another, so he writes all his internal feelings of shame, guilt, and confusion in his diary because he thinks it’s safer than actually talking to real people. On top of that, he is soon to be married. Even though his parents know about his impotence and erectile dysfunction, they don’t pay much attention to it, leading Jaggi to take drastic steps. What happens at the end? We’ll find out from this explanation of Jaggi by Anmol Sidhu. But one thing I can definitely say is that Ramnish Chaudhary’s portrayal of an innocent, vulnerable, exploited, and abused young boy will definitely break your heart!
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Jaggi start getting abused in school?
The story is set in 2008 in a rural Punjabi village named Kadak Singh village. There lived a boy named Jaggi with his parents. His father, Gurudev Singh, was a cop and a drunkard, and his mother was also cold and distant. Jaggi didn’t understand why his family was like this; he always heard rumors about them but didn’t pay much attention since he was just a child. As he grew older, Jaggi realized that his mother no longer slept with his father because his father was impotent. He also suspected that there was something going on between his mother and his uncle. Even though his father knew about this, he didn’t do anything and just drank in despair. Jaggi was a lonely teenage boy in a family where no one talked about their feelings. He spent his days going to school and helping with farming. In ninth grade, at his all-boys school, Jaggi noticed that his friends were constantly talking about the euphoria of self-pleasure. Jaggi wondered why he had never experienced this. Even though they were all the same age, Jaggi started asking his friends about it. They told him their first experiences happened at a much younger age and that it was a normal process everyone goes through.
Jaggi tried to experience it himself but failed each time. Being confused and having no one to talk to, he decided to talk about this with one of his friends. The moment he shared his secret, he realized it was a big mistake. His friends started to make fun of him by calling him names like Faggot, as they thought the reason behind his erectile dysfunction was that he was gay. Their lack of sex education and exposure made them blind to the truth. The most disturbing part was that they started taking advantage of Jaggi. The society was so repressive, and they were young. As they couldn’t be with a girl, they started to abuse him, beat him, torment him, and rape him every day. Jaggi felt completely alone. You can see how some even tried to take advantage of his innocence, knowing that he wanted to get better. His friends started manipulating him, telling him that he had to let them use him or they would tell others about his mother’s illicit affairs. Poor Jaggi tortured himself to be like other boys, to learn the act of self-pleasure, but failed every time. He cried himself to sleep and tried ayurvedic medications, but nothing helped. To avoid these torments every day, the poor boy dropped out of school, but at such a young age, regular exposure to these behaviors left an impression on him for sure.
Why did Jaggi not want to get married?
Many years have passed since Jaggi left school. It was the year 2012, and Jaggi was busy doing just farming labor and spending his days in the fields. But his parents believed he was of a suitable age for marriage and so pressured him to meet a girl. Jaggi didn’t want that. After all, he was aware of his condition and did not want to have the same strained relationship as his parents, which he had seen since childhood. At first, he assumed that Raman was not going to be interested in marrying him. But, because she agreed, Jaggi realized he must tell his parents about his condition so that they could either stop the marriage or help him. But that did not happen. When he tried talking to his mother, she completely ignored his concerns, saying that everything would be okay after marriage. Instead of helping him, she was more worried about whether Jaggi had shared this information with anyone else. This clearly shows the “hush-hush, don’t tell anyone about these things” attitude, rather than truly being supportive of him. Do you know what the saddest part was? Even though his father was experiencing the same problems himself, he ignored Jaggis’ issue. He promised to give him medicine, but that was it. He wasn’t willing to help himself or Jaggi. Jaggi expected his farmhand to help him in some way, but he later tried to molest Jaggi as well. Jaggi realized he could never be vulnerable to anyone because no one could possibly understand his pain. He felt emotionally exhausted and decided it was best to give in and marry rather than talk about his feelings.
How was Jaggi’s relationship with his fiancée?
Even though Jaggi went through years of physical and mental torture, he remained the same—a sweet and innocent soul. His fiancée, Raman, also saw what a genuinely good man he was and was drawn towards him. They started meeting regularly and sharing their thoughts and feelings. Raman wanted to work after finishing 12th grade, only to realize societal norms expected women to stay home. So, she started helping her mother at home. Jaggi and Raman grew closer by enjoying simple things together, like eating jalebis, riding scooters, and playing at the fair. Holding hands with each other made them feel happy and safe. Jaggi felt like Raman was more than just a friend to him, as she was someone who showed him love and understood him. Jaggi realized that being abused by lustful men is a very common thing when Raman shared how one of her relatives had been molesting her since she was a child, and that’s why she wanted to leave that house as soon as possible by marrying him because no one understood what she had been through. She even tried to talk to her own mother about it, but she shut her down and turned against her instead. Whether men or women, we all need someone who will stand up for us, support us, and understand our pain and suffering instead of just ignoring it.
Jaggi realized society can be regressive, but he refused to be! He wanted to be a supporter, a true friend, and a lover to Raman. But obviously, people can’t always see others’ happiness! One day, while Jaggi was heading back home, he was stopped by the molesters from his school days, who forced him to show his fiancée’s pictures. Although he refused, they saw it and blackmailed him by exposing his condition to her in order to take advantage of Raman.
Every day after that, Jaggi started to have nightmares about how they were going to steal Raman away from him due to his “disease.” He can’t be cured of it, so the one person he loves will go away from him because of his impotence. He blamed his parents for it. Instead of his mother secretly slipping medicine into his meals and his father overlooking his condition, they should have been there to talk to him and get him the proper help. Also, he did not want Raman to suffer for him. So, what did he do? The night before his engagement, he killed his parents out of rage and frustration. He also shot himself for not being able to overcome this disorder. As this story is based on true events, I wonder how many others have gone through similar experiences and heartaches. My heart goes out to them, and I wish they could get help instead of being tortured and humiliated for their condition.
