Joseph (2018 Film)

''Joseph'' is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film directed by M. Padmakumar and written by Shahi Kabir. It stars Joju George, Dileesh Pothan, Irshad, Athmiya Rajan, Johny Antony, Sudhi Koppa, Malavika Menon, and Madhuri Braganza. The story, an investigation thriller, develops through the life of four retired policemen. Some scenes in movie (the double crime scene in beginning) is based on real life experience from the writer, Shahi Kabir. Joju won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Character Actor and also won Special Mention in the National Awards. The film was remade in Tamil as '' Visithiran'' (2022), in Telugu as '' Sekhar'' (2022), and in Kannada as '' Ravi Bopanna'' (2022). A Hindi remake is also being made with Sunny Deol in the lead.

Plot

The movie starts with Peter(Dileesh Pothan) receiving a medal from the police. After the ceremony, while Peter and Joseph's(Joju George) friends are travelling the car the driver enquires the cause for receiving the medal. The story then shifts to Joseph, a retired policeman who has unique and sharp investigation skills. A lonely Joseph, who is separated from his wife Stella(Athmiya Rajan)..the latter who then marries Peter. He is then called by the SP of police to investigate a crime scene involving the murder of an old couple. He then reaches the crime scene and investigates. Upon questioning the people present at the crime scene it is revealed that a guy called Manu was the first one to witness the incident when he came to supply milk to their house and he was the one who informed the police. Joseph after questioning the members present at the crime scene resorts to going for a drink with one of the workers who was helping to remove the corpse away from the crime scene. They decide to go to Manu's house for booze. He then sends Manu to get a Pepsi for him. When Manu comes back he is shocked to find police in his house and Joseph declares Manu as the culprit. The police then arrest Manu and it is revealed that Joseph turns out to be actually reliable after he presented various findings to the SP of police. After a few days, Joseph is shocked to hear about the accident of his wife and rushes to the hospital to enquire about her condition. His friends find out that Joseph still has feelings for Stella. They enquire what was the reason for their separation. Joseph then reveals that a few years earlier(after Joseph's marriage and being the father of a girl) when he went to investigate a crime scene, while examining the corpse, he was shocked to find out that the corpse was of his ex-lover Lisamma(Madhuri Braganza) and this incident really haunted him to that extent that he was afraid to reveal this fact to his wife, which rendered him alcoholic and cut off the healthy rapport which he had with his wife. The scene then shifts to the present. After a while, Stella is declared brain dead and a request is made for donation of her organs by the doctor. But it is clear from the facts that Stella was murdered. Rest of the story deals with how he solves the mystery of Stella's murder.

Cast

* Joju George as Joseph Parekkatil, a retired policeman
* Athmiya Rajan as Stella Peter, Joseph's Ex-Wife
* Malavika Menon as Dayana Joseph, Joseph's and Stella's daughter
* Dileesh Pothan as Peter, Stella's Husband
* Madhuri Braganza as Lisamma, Joseph's Ex-Love Interest
* Sudhi Koppa as Sudhy, Joseph's friend
* Irshad as T.Sidique, Joseph's friend
* James Elia as Joseph's Friend
* Kijan as Joseph's Friend
* Nedumudi Venu as Adv. Srinivasan
* Johny Antony as Church Priest
* Jaffar Idukki as Church Priest
* Bitto Davis as Tea Shop Owner
* Rajesh Sharma as Viswanathan
* Anil Murali as SP Venugopal
* Idavela Babu as Car Owner
* Prem Prakash as Cardiologist
* Sonia M S as Renuka(the girl who receives joseph's daughter's heart)

Music

The songs were composed by Ranjin Raj and Bhagyaraj (Pandu Paadavarambathiloode), while the film score was composed by Anil Johnson

Release

The film was released on 16 November 2018.

Box office

''Joseph'' was commercial success and ran for 125 days in theatres.

Controversy

The film was criticised by Indian Medical Association for depicting a plot which included murder of potential donors for the sake of organ transplantation scam, on the backdrop of reducing numbers of organ transplantation in Kerala during recent years mainly due to stricter laws.
In an interview to The Hindu, the writer Shahi Kabir responded that he didn't intend to create a scare about Mrithasanjeevani erala Network for Organ Sharing, a project of the State Government but an attempt to prevent a crime. He narrowed on the topic after several discussions about organ donation in public platforms including social media.

Awards

References

External links

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{{M. Padmakumar

2018 films
2010s Malayalam-language films
Indian thriller drama films
Malayalam films remade in other languages
Films directed by M. Padmakumar