Joji: Movie Review

Joji: Dileesh Pothan’s Macbeth Portrays Frailties in Family Relations!

 

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Reviewer’s Thumb Mark

“There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” - - William Shakespeare, Macbeth Act 1, Scene 4

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The above-mentioned lines are spoken by King Duncan admitting that he failed to see the duplicity of the Thane of Cawdor who was executed for treason. He says that it is so difficult to know what a man is actually thinking and feeling simply by looking at his face.

Dileesh Pothan’s third directorial outing ‘Joji’ takes us through similar instances of treachery and deceit in the Panachel family where the septuagenarian father PK Kuttappan (PN Sunny) is at the helm of affairs.   Kuttappan’s family comprises three sons, a daughter in law and a grandson. His eldest son Jomon (Baburaj) is a divorcee, alcoholic and temperamental and holds a command on his siblings and lives with his son Popy (Alex Alister) along with others. In many ways, Jomon is close to his father and is like him. Popy is in his teens who is tech-savvy like any other new-generation kid and he has his secrets to keep. Interestingly Popy’s one such secret holds an important role in the happenings of the Panachel mansion.

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Jaison (Joji Mundakayum) the second son is seemingly obedient and dutiful. He very well knows his limits and doesn’t want to upset the applecart by questioning the authority. When I called him, Joji said he is overwhelmed by the positive response he received for his character Jaison. He said it was a blessing to get to share screen space with such a powerhouse of talent like Fahadh Faasil. Moreover, he feels blessed to be directed by Dileesh Pothan one of the best directors of our country in recent times.

Bincy (Unnimaya Prasad) his wife, the only woman busy with the household chores on this men’s turf. Like many women, she is voiceless, a silent spectator and can see through faces and read them. Is she like lady Macbeth? At a very crucial juncture, Bincy reminds me of the original Macbeth and the lines Lady Macbeth tells him: “Your face, my thane, is as a book where men may read strange matters. To beguile the time, look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it” because for her it is too easy to see what Macbeth is planning from looking at his face. Similarly, the dialogue of Bincy is so metaphorical here when she reminds the Macbeth of Panachel family to wear a mask because here she makes the opposite point to the one that occurs to King Duncan. 

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The youngest and the last one among the siblings is Joji. He is slothful and unproductive; at the same time nurses within him, ambitions mired with contempt for control and power his father exercise on everyone, particularly on him.  Slowly as the film progress to its climax, we come to know that there is only one among the Panachels who can upset the applecart. Fahadh Faasil as Joji the anti-hero fits into the character so well that Dileesh Pothan in one of his interviews with media recently says that there was nobody else but Fahadh in his mind. 

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Fahadh’s Joji is like a serpent – venomous, sometimes coiled doing nothing and the next moment observant and making quick moves to dart towards its goals and vanish without living a trail of its existence, and at the moment of danger with its hood up. 

The characters in the film are so well etched that each one of them and the situations that emerge become relatable for the audience. For instance, characters like Dr Felix (Shammi Tilakan) and the Church Priest Father Kevin (Basil Joseph) are those people whom you see every day. And therefore, the viewer stays back in the courtyard of the Panachel Mansion even when the movie is over. The impact is so much that one starts thinking whether all the characters were flawed, or was it the silence before the storm that they saw in the beginning in the mansion, was Pothan’s Macbeth a victim of circumstances or he was driven by the desire of power and greed and did everyone in the Panachel Mansion wanted this to happen or were stuck in their incapability of challenging the status co. For this, you need to watch the film whether the Macbeth in Joji heeds Lady Macbeth convincing him saying – “But screw your courage to the sticking place. And we’ll not fail.” 

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In short, Joji is a must-watch for its treatment and unique way of telling the story. Fahadh mesmerises us by his performance and there is Joji Mundakayam, the discovery of Dileesh Pothan as Jaison who has drawn much attention for his superb portrayal as an elder brother to Fahadh. Hope Joji Mundakayam gets meatier and relevant roles further so that he continues to entertain and surprise us more with his talents. Justin Varghese’s music gives the required mood and tone to this slow and steady thriller and makes it more gripping and engaging. The work of Shyju Khalid as Director of Photography is commendable. Kiran Das the editor is not in a hurry rather he lets the viewer stay in the moment for long to feel and observe the human mind at play driven by vices. Last but not the least; we need more from the stable of these three creative geniuses Fahadh, Dileesh and Syam Pushkaran.

Joji is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

PEN Movie Rating: 4/5

(Thomas is a film reviewer by passion, founder and director of Life Connoisseur (A Behavioural Corporate Training and Organisation Development Consultancy), behavioural counsellor and life coach you can connect with on Twitter @thomasp_mathews, thomaspmathews70@gmail.com)

Cast: Fahadh Faasil (Joji), Baburaj (Jomon), Joji Mundakayam (Jaison), Sunny PN (Kuttappan), Unnimaya Prasad (Bincy), Shammi Thilakan (Dr Felix), Alister Alex (popy), Basil Joseph (Fr. Kevin) 

Genre:  Black Comedy Crime Drama (inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth) 

Director: Dileesh Pothan 

Executive Producer: Unnimaya Prasad 

Director of Photography: Shyju Khalid 

Editor: Kiran Das 

Production Design: Gokuldas 

Sound Design: Ganesh Marar 

Writer: Syam Pushkaran 

Music: Justin Varghese 

Produced by: Bhavana Studios 

Presented by: Working Class Hero, Fahadh Faasil & Friends 

OTT Platform: Amazon Prime Video 

Release Date: 07 April 2021 

Duration: 113 Minutes

Language: Malayalam 

 

Bhor : Movie Review

Bhor (Dawn) Movie Review: Realistic To Its Core!

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 Reviewer’s Thumb Mark

“Hope begins in the dark; the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing. The dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.” – Anne Lamot

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Kay Granger says, “Human rights are not a privilege granted by a few, they are a liberty entitled to all, and human rights, by definition, include the rights of all humans, those in the dawn of life, the dusk of life, or the shadows of life”. I think Bhudhini in Kamakhya Narayan Singh's Bhor’ might have taken this quote seriously without even actually having read or heard about this. 

Image Courtesy: Indiatimes.com

It is interesting to note that Bhor’s journey itself is so inspiring that every single independent filmmaker can draw hope and strength from it. This film which was heaped with praise and great reviews internationally for its fantastic and realistic portrayal of societal issues like open defecation, child marriage, women empowerment and social and economic disparity existing in Indian villages found it hard to find a cheering audience and packed theatres in its country then. The film has received critical acclaim at more than thirty film festivals. The film went on to win the best director award at the Ottawa Indian Film Festival and two awards in the Caleidoscope Indian Film Festival of Boston. After a long journey, the film has released on the OTT Platform MX Player and all of a sudden it finds itself in the limelight again for all good reasons. 

Image Courtesy:  MX player

Bhor reminds me of the film Gutrun Gutargun by Pratik Sharma and Asmita Sharma was equally a good movie highlighting women empowerment and open defecation. Gutrun Gutargun also had its challenges in getting a fair release in theatres and had to file a case for alleged copyright issues against Toilet Ek Prem Katha makers in the Jaipur High Court. Finally, Gutrun Gutargun got released on the OTT platforms like Hungama and MX Player in 2020.

Image Courtesy: MX Player

The film Bhor portrays the harsh realities of the Musahar community in Bihar and thereby opens a window to the world to experience a world of the underprivileged and their struggle for human rights. In Bihar, the word Musahar means mus + ahar  (Rat Eater) based on their traditional occupation of catching rats. The musahar community's literacy rate is minimal and in the case of women, it’s abysmal.

Image Courtesy: MX Player

Savaree Gaur as Bhudhini a school going untouchable girl is married off to a young villager Sugan (Devesh Ranjan). Devesh Ranjan and Savaree are fabulous actors. They have slipped into the skin of their characters so well that the viewer feels their innocence, hope, love, bonding, challenges and agony all through the film. Nalneesh Neel is an exceptional actor and has delivered a commendable performance as Chamku the father-in-law of Bhudhini. Chamku’s drunken stupor, language, mannerisms, acceptance of his fate as a Musahar and his docility towards his master moves us to tears and at the same time make us love this man for his honesty and bonding for his family.

Image Courtesy: MX Player

Another actor worth mentioning here is Amarendra Sharma who plays the role of Bhukan. Amarendra Sharma was also seen in the film Batla House as one of the police officers in John Abraham’s team. Amarendra Sharma is one among many talented actors who have landed in Bollywood and is all set to leave his mark here. Punya Prasun Bajpai enacts well what he is good at as a journalist. His presence as a journalist in the film adds value and credibility to his role played because of his progressive and secular track record in the media circle. Pavleen Gujral as Madamji in Bhor (The Angry Indian Goddesses actress) looks different here because of her deglamorized looks in Bhor as a village teacher.

 

Image Courtesy: MX Player

In short, Bhor is a must-watch because of its compelling social message and for Kamakhya Narayan Singh’s courage and vision to make this film his debut film. The last scene of the film hits hard for at the end of the day the underprivileged, workers, peasants and the poor are displaced, they remain a migrant or a refugee in their own country. The city gives them money but they have no worth and the village gives them open space but chain them in the casteists, patriarchal and feudal systems. Bhor is a bugle for all of us to stand for the basic human rights of the common people of our country. True nationalism is beyond religion and I believe it’s high time we realize this truth. Finally, watch Bhor on MX Player.

PEN Movie Rating: 3.5/5

Cast: Nalneesh Neel, Savree Sri Gaur, Devesh Ranjan, Amarendra Sharma, Pavleen Gujral, Punya Prasun Bajpai, Rajeev Panday,

Genre:  Social Drama

Director: Kamakhya Narayan Singh

Creative Producer: Abhinandan Sekhri

Producer: Anjani Kumar Singh

Executive Producer: Ranjan Chauhan, Aditya Aman

Director of Photography: Jogendranath Panda

Editor: Navnita Sen

Background Music: Bapi-Tutul, Sagar Desai, Jessica Weiss

Story, Screenplay and Dialogues: Ranjan Chauhan, Kamakhya Narayan                                                               Singh, Bhasker Vishwanathan

Music Director: Gulraj Singh

Cinematography: 

Art Director: Mrinal Das, Alok Haldar

Production Companies: Gyanesh Films Production 

OTT Platform: MX Player 

Release Date: 05 February 2021

Duration: 91 Minutes

Language: Hindi

 

 

 

Drishyam 2 Movie Review

Drishyam 2 Movie Review: A Film Worth Watching!

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Reviewer’s Thumb Mark

“The man who has a conscience suffers whilst acknowledging his sin. That is his punishment.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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Dhrishaym 2 continues where its prequel left us thinking – “Can anyone defeat a person who is pledged to protect his family? And in the sequel too we come to know that this person can go to any extent to resist his past from haunting him and posing any threat to his family.

Jeethu Joseph is once again successful in portraying a common man’s dilemma, guilt and helplessness when he is compelled to commit a crime that he would not have even imagined in his wildest dreams to do. Jeethu Joseph deserves exceptional appreciation for his deft handling of his story not to make Georgekutty a hero of his act and also not to justify his crime. At the same time, he leaves his viewers to feel the vulnerability, pain, loss, guilt and determination of both the party. 

Image Courtesy: gulfnews.com

Drishyam 2 begins with a man running for cover from the police. Six years have passed and the jail gates are opened for this murder convict to go back to his home not knowing what other things happened in his village on that fateful night when he had murdered his brother-in-law in a drunken brawl. The village has changed and now, a fully functional police station is there quite ignorant about the mystery that lies underneath its structure. The erstwhile cable operator Georgekutty (Mohanlal) is now in a new avatar. He now owns a cinema theatre named after his wife Rani (Meena). He is busy managing the shows, collections and pursuing his newfound love to produce movies. He has a very private life with his two grown-up daughters and his God-fearing wife.

Life is not the same for Georgekutty and his family anymore, they live in constant fear of being caught, they know that they are still the talk of the town, they are cautious to strangers and the villagers enquiring about what happened on that fateful night when Varun the son of ex Inspector general of Police Anjali Prabhakar (Asha Sharath) went missing. The family silently deals with the much-traumatised elder daughter (Ansiba Hassan) and her epilepsy after the sad incident that changed their life completely. The younger one seems to have overcome the sad past and is all set to vroom into the future with her gen x friends.  Georgekutty is often found playing the role of a bridge between his traditional and over-cautious wife and his younger daughter Anu (Esther Anil). 

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The first half takes its time for momentum and is actually more of Georgekutty and the supporting characters like the abusive neighbour and his wife who is close to Rani, the murder convict who is just released and his family, Georgekutty’s an ever-loyal hotel owner and his customers, the local auto-rickshaw drivers and the local policemen who try hard to avoid the embarrassment of their failure to nab the alleged culprit Georgekutty.

The seemingly all good and peaceful atmosphere of Georgekutty’s family life changes drastically when they find the policemen knocking at his door. Did Georgekutty underestimate the newly appointed Police officer (Murali Gopi) and his team? Will Georgekutty be able to escape once again being put behind the bars? 

Image Courtesy: aajtak.in

There are some heartrending moments and dialogues that happens between the two fathers – Georgekutty and Prabhakar (Siddique), the father of Varun, the last scene tugs at your heart for both the families for their loss and pain.

In short, Jeethu Joseph's Dhrishyam 2- The Resumption’ is aptly titled and lives up to the expectations of its viewers. Though the first half is a bit slow it is well compensated by the twists and dramatic turns in the second half of the film. And to sum up, I would like to quote Stephen Arroyo - “Each individual is solely responsible for his or her own actions, and every action will produce a reaction equal in every way to the suit of the action”.

PEN Movie Rating: 3.5/5

Cast: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Asha Sharath, Siddique, Murali Gopi, Ajith Koothattukulam,

 Genre:  Crime Thriller

 Director: Jeethu Joseph

 Producer: Antony Perumbavoor

 Written by: Jeethu Joseph

 Music: Anil Johnson

 Cinematography: Satheesh Kurup

 Edited by: VS Vinayak

 Production Companies: Aashirvad Cinemas

 Distributor: Prime Video

 Release Date: 19 February 2021

 Duration: 153 Minutes

 Language: Malayalam