BY VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY
Just when you’d think another fresh take on William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” couldn’t possibly be done, comes “Joji”. Fahadh Faasil’s new collaboration with director Dileesh Pothan retains the basic outline of human avarice and slant at violence, but sheds Shakespearean grandeur of the story in favour of restraint as it builds up the crime drama.
“Macbeth” and its innumerable retellings (including Vishal Bhardwaj’s magnificent “Maqbool”) have traditionally banked on a singular tragic flaw while spelling doom for the towering Shakespearean antihero — his ambition. Pothan’s film underplays that bit, and gives the titular protagonist (played by Faasil) the persona of a weakling, ridden by inferiority complex.