Three years after his classic film Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, actor-director Dileesh Pothan is going to make his third, titled Joji. The film, says the tagline of the black and red title poster, is inspired from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. As in his previous two films, Fahadh Faasil will play the lead.
Not just Fahadh. Syam Pushkaran, the man who wrote the first film that Dileesh directed – Maheshinte Prathikaram – is on the team. So is Shyju Khalid, the cinematographer.
The film will be a production of Bhavana Studios, partnered by Dileesh, Fahadh and Syam. Their last work was the critically acclaimed Kumbalangi Nights.
“JOJI is inspired from the epic play of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It’s a heart full effort to interpret the classic in an independent way (sic),” says a note by the production company.
Apart from Fahadh, the cast announced includes Baburaj and Unnimaya Prasad.
Justin Varghese, the music composer behind the lovely songs of Njandukalude Nattil Oridavela and Thanneer Mathan Dinangal, has also been roped in for Joji.
Editor of Thondimuthalum, Kiran Das, is also part of the team.
Dileesh, who began as an assistant director to Aashiq Abu, and has also acted in minor roles, made his first film Maheshinte Prathikaram in 2016, with Fahadh playing a photographer in a village in Idukki, and nursing a revenge for a man who humiliated him in public. The movie received a lot of appreciation for its making, a simple subject told beautifully without noise, for its performances and its humour. Aparna Balamurali made her acting debut with the film. Anusree played the other female lead. Soubin Shahir also played an important role.
Dileesh’s next and even more appreciated film – Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum - came in 2017, with Fahadh playing a petty thief who encounters a troubled couple on a bus, played by Suraj Venjaramoodu and Nimisha Sajayan. Nimisha made her acting debut with the film. Most of the film was then set in a rural police station, with many real life policemen playing the cops.
Watch: Trailer of Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum
In the years afterward, Dileesh played many important roles, including the last released Trance in early 2020.
Joji is expected to be a 2021 release.