Gajraj Rao lauds Joji, takes a jibe at Bollywood's 'soulless remakes'

Fahadh Faasil's Joji has been earning lavish praise since it premiered on Amazon Prime Video earlier this month. Actor Gajraj Rao of Badhaai Ho fame was also impressed with Faasil's performance and took to Instagram to commend the actor.

Rao's Instagram post also poked fun at Bollywood that often invests in extravagant marketing campaigns and bland remakes.

Addressing his post to Joji director Dileesh Pothan and Faasil, Rao called the film "good cinema".

Continuing to applaud Joji, the actor sarcastically explained that he had a bone to pick with the filmmakers. "Enough is enough. It is not fair that you are constantly coming up with original ideas and executing them with utmost sincerity, making actually good cinema," read Rao's post on Wednesday.

The actor then went on to take a dig at the Hindi film industry. “You need to learn a thing or two from other regional cinema, and especially us here in Hindi. You need to do some mediocre work also. Where are the tiring marketing campaigns and promotions? Where are the soulless remakes? Where is the obsession with weekend box office collections? This is too much," jested Rao.

Signing off the post as the self-proclaimed chairman of the Fahadh Faasil fanclub, Rao wrote, “I hope you will not take any of this seriously, and continue the good work you are doing. In a non-pandemic world, I’ll always be ready with the popcorn for your films, first day first show.”

Joji also stars Baburaj, Shammi Thilakan, Unnimaya Prasad and Alister Alex in pivotal roles. This reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the story of a wealthy Malayali family and how the youngest son’s greed and ambition drive his actions.

Faasil will next be seen playing the antagonist in Allu Arjun’s Pushpa and is also part of Kamal Haasan’s Vikram.

Joji can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.