The Tragedy of Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, has been adapted in its original form several times now. There have also been other interesting adaptations where the play has been improvised and set in other universes, with different backdrops, and with characters modified, added, or removed from the original version.

Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s film Throne of Death portrayed Macbeth as a Samurai warrior and set the play in Feudal Japan. ‘Joe Macbeth’, a British-American adaptation of the play, adapted it for a film noir universe where Macbeth was the henchman for a mob boss. Similarly, Vishal Bharadwaj’s Bollywood adaptation of the play also portrayed Macbeth as the henchman of a gangster but was set in the Mumbai underworld. In an earlier post, I reviewed Polanski’s adaptation of the play.

“Joji,” a Malayalam movie directed by Dileesh Pothan, with Fahadh Faasil in the lead role, is set on a plantation in a small town in contemporary Kerala, loosely based on Macbeth. The movie is a crime thriller and family drama about an affluent family that owns the plantation. It is a tale of abuse, desperation, greed, and murder, revolving around a young disturbed individual who wants to break free from his authoritarian father’s control and does all he can to cover up his misdeeds as his life spirals out of control.

How faithful is the story to the original play? How does it differ from it? Let us take a look at the film’s plot. The film is a slow burner and begins with two long takes. The first is aerial footage of a vehicle making its way across the greenery of the town in Kerala, a state considered “God’s own Country” for its natural beauty. The plot then shifts to a young boy who quietly makes his way through a large mansion, cautiously passing his strong and powerful grandfather, slipping outdoors, and walking quite a distance to the gate of the large estate. He receives a package from a courier on a motorcycle, opens the package, and pulls out the object it contains. This object will play a crucial part later in the film. The plot takes its time, developing the character of each of the residents of the mansion.

Joji, the youngest son of an estate owner and patriarch Kuttappan, is an unemployed engineering dropout who lives in his father’s house. Joji’s two elder brothers, Jomon(Baburaj) and Jaison( Joji Mundakayam), Jaison’s wife Bincy(Unnimaya Prasad), and Jaison’s teenage son Poppy also live in the same house. Unlike his heavily built father and his two older brothers, Joji is small-made, skinny, and a timid individual.

Kuttappan, on the other hand, besides being strong and powerfully built, is a fierce individual with an intimidating personality. There is no question that he is the absolute monarch of his family and rules over everyone else, family members, and workers with fierce authority. He is constantly physically and verbally abusive to Joji, who is growing more frustrated from the mistreatment. Jomon, Kuttappan’s first son, is a divorcee and is a distant second in command, while Jaison and Bincy are an unassuming couple.

Bincy is the only one who relates to Joji and often shares her thoughts with him. Her relationship with Joji is a typical relationship between a man and his sister-in-law. Unlike her counterpart in the play, the fiendish Lady Macbeth, she neither personifies evil nor makes diabolical plans. She often complains to Joji that she wishes to leave the mansion and live elsewhere with her husband, her son, and perhaps Joji.

One day, while his workers are working arduously to pull out a heavy cable buried underground, the powerful Kuttappan takes over the task and single-handedly pulls it out. Kuttappan then collapses, suffering a massive heart attack.

While this event seems like a tribulation for the entire family, it becomes evident that only Jomon wants Kuttappan to recover quickly. Joji, Jaison, and Bincy feel differently. Bincy’s intentions are clear when she tells Joji that she and Jaison have made payments on a house they plan to move into.

While there are no real equivalents to the witches of Macbeth in Joji, there are two incidents that allude to prophecy. The first one comes when Joji drops off the family doctor (Dileesh Pothan) home. When Joji asks how long his father will last, the doctor tells him that it may only be a fortnight and then mutters the word “millionaire” under his breath.

Upon Kuttappan’s return, Jomon organizes a prayer vigil, which is perhaps typical and unique for a Christian family in Kerala. He then ensures that Kuttappan gets surgery, which puts Kuttappan on the road to recovery.

A desperate Joji realizes that he must act quickly and implements his fiendish plan, which is observed and deliberately overlooked by Bincy. Reminiscent of Macbeth, Joji has nightmares about his deed.

When Joji confides in Bincy about these dreams, there is an allusion to the second prophecy, as she advises him to fear the living more than the dead.

Sure enough, suspicions and gossip put the entire family under the spotlight. Tensions rise within the family as a dispute manifests between the brothers over the division of the inheritance among them. Religion and societal norms will also have its impact on the family’s predicament.

To add to this, a witness comes out of the blue, suggesting that Joji did not seem perturbed and was moving slowly, showing no concern on the day of Kuttappan’s death. Joji has no choice but to cover up his first crime with more crimes.

Even a person who is not familiar with Macbeth or who does not see the commonalities between Macbeth and Joji will love the play. The genius of Fahadh Faasil as Joji cannot be overstated. Joji is not even close to the strongest powerful person in the house. He is a meek individual overshadowed by his overbearing father and his elder brother. It is evident that Faasil shed quite a few pounds for this role, just as Christian Bale did for his role in ‘The Machinist’

However, he makes his presence prominently on screen, stealing the limelight from both these powerful personalities. I fully cannot explain how he does it. Spadikam Sunny also gives a great performance as the powerful Kuttan.

Unnimaya Prasad’s character Bincy is another dark horse in the film, silently influencing Joji. We are never quite sure whether she is trying to help Joji from genuine care or is secretly manipulating him. She is soft-spoken and unassuming but expresses herself when she needs to. She somewhat represents a little of Lady Macbeth and a little of the witches that appear in Macbeth.

Joji is certainly one of the most creative adaptations of Macbeth and is one of the best Malayalam crime thrillers in recent memory. It has a slick screenplay, great cinematography, and interesting, well-defined characters. Comparing it to the original classic also makes for a great intellectual exercise. Go ahead and give it a viewing.