Mcabeth,the shortest tragedy of Shakespeare, first performed at the Globe theatre in London in 1606. Macbeth has been screened numerous times in various languages around the globe. The adaptations have several changes from the original Macbeth,but the theme of destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints causes the fall of the hero. In this essay attempts to compare Macbeth to its adaptation in the Malayalam film Joji, directed by Dileesh Pothan.
The film Joji was released through OTT service in the amazon prime video. Fahad Fasil plays the title character. Bbahuraj, Shammi Thilakan, and Unnimaya Prasad played the major roles. Joji, an engineering drop out. Joji’s brothers are Jaison and Jomon, all live under the dominating father, Kuttappan, a richman, who rules the entire estate as a tyrant. When brothers take care of the wealth of their father, Joji was busy with his unsuccessful ventures, like horse keeping and selling. The character Bincy, the wife of Jaison, is an important one when we analyse the film's adaptation from Macbeth.
Despite his old age, Kuttappan is a very bold and well fit man, who became bedridden due to a heart stroke when he tried to pull the valve out of mud in a pond. Dr. Felix is another character, who is a relative of their family, said that Kuttappan would be paralysed and the chance of recovery is very little, but Kuttappan shows the sign of fast recovery from the bed to the chair. Dr. Felix is a character similar to witches in the play Macbeth, as the witches try to put in the venom of greed in the mind of Macbeth, Dr Felix calls Joji as “kodeeswaraa” ( millionaire), and Joji gets evilified.
The character of Kuttappan is similar to Duncan, as he was killed by Joji, by replacing the medicine of Kuttappan, the first attempt of this incident was witnessed by Bincy, but she remain silent, shows her inner wish to the death of Kuttappan, as they were financially crawling under the feet of Kuttappan even he is sick. Bincy shows the bold character of Lady Macbeth. Her silence is actually an encouragement to Joji, as Lady Macbeth hands over the dagger to Macbeth to kill the most loyal king, Duncan. Eventually, Kuttappan died, and partition occurred presided by Dr.Felix. Then rumours began to spread on the death of Kuttappan.
Moreover, Joji dreamt of Kuttappan rising from the pond and catching his neck. This scene is similar to the ghost scene of Banquo. Not like any cliche malayalam film, the presence of females is very negligible, Bincy is the only female character is Bincy, a passive supporter of Joji.
Director Dileesh Pothan establishes the universality of Shakespeare wonderfully in this film, with the treatment of its themes by setting the tales of castles, kings and witches into a malayali estate of plantations and a house in Kottayam. Apart from the castle of Macbeth in the barren lands of Scotland , the kitchen and pond plays as a place for the discussion between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth,( Joji and Bincy). Unlike the film Maqbool, directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, which tells the theme of Macbeth from the Bombay underworld, Joji develops through the common hierarchy of household problems. Through the various adaptations of Macbeth in films shows the relevenvence of the themes selected by Shakespeare, even though such films significantly varies from the original.
Works cited;
Joji. Directed by Dileesh Pothan, Performance by Fahadh Faasil and Unnimaya Prasad. Bhavana Studios, Working Class Hero and Fahadh Faasil and Friends, 2021. Amazon Prime Video.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. USA: Spark Notes, 2005. Print.
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