Comprehending Joji: How the meek inherited earth

ROSHIN GEORGE

In late 2019, Kerala society was shaken by the news of a spate or murders committed by an attractive and dynamic woman in her forties – six murders spurred by greed for money and property and family intrigue. The Koodathayi case as it soon came to be known after the location of the killings has even inspired a prime-time serial on TV. Jolly, the serial killer, had done it with cyanide, and she attained increasing criminality and pleasure from her actions as her crime went undetected for 14 years.

Watching director Dileesh Pothan’s Joji on Amazon Prime Video upon its release on April 7, one could not help comparing the criminal minds of both Jolly and Joji, the protagonist of the movie. With Pothan and scriptwriter Syam Pushkaran, Fahadh Faasil presents another stellar performance after Maheshinte Prathikaram, Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum and Kumbalangi Nights. From a mediocre photographer hell-bent on revenge in the first, Fahadh’s histrionics reached its zenith in the latter two where he boldly etched characters with questionable credentials – a shifty nameless thief and a psycho hairdresser. In them, as well as in the latest movie, Fahadh performs with his eyes and going the extra mile in Joji to look gaunt and sickly.

The titular hero here is a lethargic engineering dropout, who dreams of a life abroad. But he does not have the drive to prepare earnestly for TOEFL exams. He logs into a session but soon falls asleep. When he is not sleeping, he is either smoking or fishing or unobtrusively watching people. He is right on time to grab a gun his nephew Popy (Alister Alex) has stealthily ordered online, which also marks his theatrical entry in the film.

Unlike his father Panachel Kuttappan (PK Sunny) and brothers Jason and Jomon (Baburaj and Joji Mundakayam) who slog to maintain their vast rubber and pineapple estates in Erumely, a hilly town in southern Kerala en route to the Sabarimala shrine, Joji is a wastrel who shares a bond with his sister-in-law Bincy (Unnimaya). For all her quiet and composed nature, Bincy is ambitious and unhappy with the status quo. One sees her slogging alone in the kitchen in an all-male household but the moment the patriarch’s stifling and looming presence has gone, she hires a help. From the kitchen, she slowly relegates herself to the drawing room daring to sit on the regal chairs with her legs up.

The role of the church in the lives of the community is amply demonstrated as they half-heartedly heeds to established practices relating to death – while anticipating death, upon death and 40 days after. The most comical situations revolve in this conflict between the two. The young priest almost looks as if he will not be able to handle the chaos and disobedience around, but he manages to stand his ground.

This is probably the first movie that shows the face mask being a part of our daily lives. It comes in useful to hide emotions, as in Bincy’s instructions to Joji on funeral day. Even without a mask, Bincy has a face that masks her actual emotions. Glamourless and way too ordinary, Bincy is a courageous creation in a film that has no other major female faces.

The film professes to be inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a tragic tale of greed for power and the protagonist’s machinations to cover up the first crime. Like Macbeth, Joji gets bolder in his crimes, lies and blackmails but in the end has to pay for them. Bincy’s Lady Macbeth persona is the perfect foil to Joji as both are driven by a greed for property and desire for freedom from the dictatorial clutches of the father. In the end, the weakest eliminate the strongest through guile and patience.

As a dark comedy, the film rightly manages to elicit a chuckle or a guffaw from audiences familiar with local habits and parlance.

It has also captured the beauty of Kerala’s high ranges that many settler families toiled to tame and reap profits. Shyju Khalid’s photography and Justine Verghese’s music provide the perfect background for this suspense thriller.

For a pandemic-era movie – shorter and with fewer locales – Joji keeps you riveted to the screen for its one hour 53 minute duration.