1. LEC052019. Joji and Macbeth

Joji and Macbeth 

    Joji is the 2021 Malayalam movie directed by Dileesh Pothan who contributed a variety of movies into Mollywood and written by syam Pushkaran. The movie was released on Amazon Prime Video on April 7, starring Fahadh Faasil, Unnimaya Prasad, Baburaj and others. Since then it raised a lot of debates and discussion regarding its connection to Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It is said to be an adaptation of the tragedy. But as the movie begins, we are able to quickly realise this isn’t a literal adaptation of the play. 

    The story of the movie revolves around Joji an engineering dropout and the youngest son of the rich Panachel family. He has a lot of dreams about becoming rich. But his father Kuttappan, a dominant figure controls him and he has super command over everyone in the family. As the story progresses Joji plans the murder of his father in order to inherit the huge wealth. He successfully executes his plan even though his sister-in-law Bincy is aware about the crime. In the course of events, Joji is encircled by a number of crimes and in the end he ends up in suicide.

    As we look into the characters, Faasil’s Joji—the film’s Macbeth—is the son, King Duncan is the brutish patriarch Kuttappan (Sunny PN). The Banquo figure is his elder brother, Jomon (Baburaj), and Bincy (Unnimaya Prasad)—Lady Macbeth—is not his wife but his brother Jaison’s. Though we cannot see the moving woods, the sleep walking of Lady Macbeth, the witches in the movie, it has certain elements of Macbeth. As in the play, the extreme greed is the driving force that urges Joji to commit crimes. But unlike Macbeth in the play, Joji is not guilty of his crimes. The Lady Macbeth in the movie is a silent partner in crime even though she makes subtle comments to prompt the villain to commit crime. The father figure in the movie, Kuttappan, is a cruel person but the father figure in the play, King Duncan is a kind hearted old man.

    In Shakespeare’s play, we’re impressed by Macbeth before we even meet him; he is brave and a worthy gentleman. But the movie portrays Joji from the very beginning itself as an unworthy fellow. Furthermore, Bincy gets a far more empathetic portrayal. Her actions are driven by the frustrations of being a voiceless worker in a huge house rather than greed as in the original play. Even though the counterparts of the witches in the play is not vividly seen in the movie, the character Dr. Felix anticipates the climax and calls Joji “a millionaire”( 00:27:42)- a kind of prophecy. It can be connected to the act of the witches of the play.

    Literary adaptation is the adapting of a literary source (e.g. a novel, short story, poem) to another genre or medium, such as a film, stage play etc., To get an original story adapted into another medium the concept, character, story, dialogue, and action are the things to taken into consideration. If we analyse Joji as an adaptation of Macbeth, it is certain that it is not a literal adaptation. It can be said as inspired by Macbeth. This fact is also gains significance because the writer Syam Pushkaran has said that he hadn’t read the play instead he watched the movie Maqbool, a more justifiable adaptation of Macbeth.

    William Shakespeare, the greatest writer of all time has written a number of works which have everlasting significance and a universal appeal. That is why his works find place even today after four centuries of its publication in various forms of literature, movie, drama and art. In short, Joji is an excellent crime drama film inspired from Macbeth set in the cultural and social background of Kerala.

Works consulted

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.