Director: Dileesh Pothan
Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Baburaj, Joji Mumdakayam, Unnimaya Prasad, Basil Joseph, Sunny PN
Language: Malayalam
Joji, streaming on Prime, is director Dileesh Pothan’s third straight collaboration with Malayalam superstar Fahadh Faasil. Loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the film paints a portrait of the Panachel family, with the scenic locales of Kottayam serving as a picturesque canvas.
Joji is in essence a thriller. But Dileesh takes his time to set the plot up. The first few reels offer an insight into the family’s routines and a peek into the complexities that lie ahead. Kuttappan Panachel (Sunny PN) is the family’s patriarch and his three sons (all middle aged now) have had an extremely strict upbringing under his watch. Though its obvious that this has made Kuttappan unpopular, two of the sons- Jomon and Jaison- have grown to accept this way of life. The third son Joji (Fahadh Faasil) though, has severe misgivings. Joji is enterprising and has an entrepreneurial vibe about him. While he often reaches out to his father for support for one of his ideas, he’s almost always ridiculed and beaten down. Its fair to say Joji grows to loath Kuttappan the most and the tension between them builds nicely, signaling that something’s about to give.
Its rather fortuitous when it happens though, from Joji’s perspective that is. Kuttappan is paralyzed after a freak accident and this brings about a sea change in the atmosphere at home. Freed from Kuttappan’s iron fist, the mood considerably lightens, and Joji especially brightens up the most. But this is also where the film itself turns darker.
Kuttappan makes an unexpected recovery of sorts after a surgery. Joji’s joy is shortlived and the tensions build again. This time, Joji goes the distance and does the unthinkable. He plots and executes Kuttappan’s murder with cold precision. It wasn’t a perfect job though. A character closely associated with Joji becomes an unintended witness. Joji also fumbles while attempting to destroy crucial evidence. The film finally transforms into the full-blown thriller it was always positioned to be.
Though the plot line is intriguing and the acting and other technical aspects are top notch, you get a sense that Joji could have been a lot more than what it ends up as. An easy comparison is a film like Drishyam that had a similar story arc. But while Drishyam’s screenplay was pulsating and unpredictable, Joji’s isn’t always so and lacks that element of surprise. I get Dileesh Pothan’s vision for this project. He’s tried to create a thriller that’s also at the same time a brooding, lived-in mood piece. He’s executed this vision with only mixed results though.
Joji is definitely not a bad film either. It has its share of memorable quirks. For example, this is one of those films where a prop plays as significant a role as some of the actors, and almost transforms into a character in itself. The film even begins with an elaborate title sequence where we see this rather innocuous prop, a toy air gun, being delivered to the Panachel household. While all this build up is promising, the film shoots itself in the foot due to several shortcomings, an overlong runtime being one among many.
Overall rating: 2.5/5
