It happened once before!

 Joji (Malayalam, 2021)

We always complain about the conundrum that we are stuck in. We brood, curse and swear at the people who brought about all these. Then we stop and go about doing our own things.  When someone takes the trouble to push the boundary and actually try to change the course of their lives, nobody wants to be part of it. The rest do not want to be seen as complicit as it would tarnish their image of it but secretly, deep inside, they are happy that something is being done. 

When the plot hits a snag and the perpetrator is exposed, nobody wants to have any link to it. Conversely, they condemn the whole exercise and start talking about morality. They claim ignorance and assert that natural justice or the rule of law should prevail. Generally, people are unthinking sheep, quite happy following the shepherd like what the herd is doing. Little do they realise that the shepherd only has one sole purpose in life - to fatten his flock and march them to the slaughter.

This Malayalam film is supposed to be based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, but there are no three witches and their prophecies. In the strict Panachel Kuttappan household live three sons - Jomon, Jaison and Joji. Kuttapan, the controlling patriarch, has an iron-fisted way of controlling his offsprings and their dependents. He is pretty dogmatic about the management of his home and his property. Jomon is divorced, probably due to his drinking habit. Jaison is living in his father's estate with his wife and his teenage son. Joji is an engineering dropout, just loafing around, passing time, knowing that he will inherit his share of his father's large estate one day with his passing. 

Joji thinks his days of splurging were nearing when Kuttappan has a massive stroke and is bedridden. Initially, his moribund condition was supposed to be terminal, but with a craniotomy, he improves. Lucid and nursing back to health, Joji has a harrowing experience when he tries to con the old man to sign a cheque. The alert and buff patient almost chokes Joji. 

Realising that Kuttappan is not dying any time soon, Joji drugs him. A few family members appear seemingly aware of Joji's shenanigans but decide to turn a blind eye. The senior had been quite nasty to everyone in the family. The old man dies, but everyone is tight-lipped about his sudden demise despite an initial improvement of health. 

To a frightened child, every shadow of a movement appears like an apparition, they say. Joji, worried that his crime will be unrecovered, starts committing more crimes, burying himself more in the quicksand that he eventually finds too difficult to extricate.

Lesson to be learnt: People are forever looking for that sucker to do all the dirty job. Change is difficult, they know, and they promise all the support that the sacrificial lamb needs. When the push comes to shove, they bail out, preferring to hang on to the thicker branch for better support. People would suddenly talk about morality, not wanting to rock the boat and need to maintain equilibrium. 

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