Curry and Cyanide The Jolly Joseph Case is a true crime documentary series released on Netflix on December 22, 2023. It is an India Today production, directed by Christo Tomy. Chandni Ahlawat Dabas serves as an executive producer and the film has a runtime of about 1 hour and 35 minutes.
The documentary features members of the victim’s family and other officials connected with the case including BA Aloor, KG Simon, Remo Roy, Nikhila Henry, Rojo Thomas, Renji Wilson, Ayisha, CS Chandrika, Dr VV Pillay, Dr Meghna Srivastav, Xavier and Lisamma.
This true-crime documentary delves into the investigation of six shocking deaths within the same family. The case revolves around Jolly Joseph, a woman at the centre of these unbelievable events.
Curry and Cyanide The Jolly Joseph Case Review
From 2002 to 2014, a series of perplexing deaths occurred in Koodathayi, Kerala, claiming the lives of six individuals. Among the deceased, four were immediate family members, while the remaining two were closely associated with the same kinship. Subsequently, in 2019, a middle-aged woman named Jolly Joseph was apprehended on allegations of employing cyanide to perpetrate these killings.
The documentary starts with the arrest of Jolly Joseph, who claimed to be a faculty member at the National Institute of Technology and was deemed a friendly homemaker. Little did anyone know that their beliefs would turn out to be lies. Not only did she never work as a faculty, but her educational qualifications were also forged and completely fake.
It is shown that Jolly was born into a family of farmers but always dreamt of a life of comfort & luxury. She found her haven in her husband, Roy’s family. Coming from an esteemed family indulged in the field of education, it was almost near to what Jolly might have desired. And she found her way in by faking a master’s degree in Commerce, getting a nod from her in-laws who gave much value to education.
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After marriage, Jolly had hoped to live a life without working long hours in the fields and spending money shopping. However, her mother-in-law was quite persistent and wanted her to join the workforce, to not let her master’s degree go to waste. Jolly didn’t want to work at all and also because her degree was fake. The creators also imply that she might have gotten pregnant to avoid getting a job but when her mother-in-law still insisted, she allegedly found it easier to get rid of her.
Although the case is still going on, it has been alleged that Jolly Joseph might have given cyanide to her mother-in-law in 2002. Since she was old & was suffering from a different illness, her death wasn’t something unexpected. Even though Jolly joined NIT as a faculty & took complete hold of the household, her second victim is said to be her father-in-law, Tom Thomas. In 2008, he died in a similar mysterious manner akin to a heart attack.
The reason is claimed to be her closeness or alleged extra-marital affair with a jewellery salesman – MS Mathew. Due to years of gap & old age, nobody suspected that their deaths could be a potential murder. Until, her husband Roy, found a similar fate in 2011. A relative in the extended family, Manchadiyil Mathew was the only one who suspected some foul play & requested a postmortem on Roy’s body. Even the reports found cyanide in his body that might have entered with his food but nobody raised any alarm, considering a suicide due to failing business.
Looking at past deaths and their relations, it was evident that Manchadiyil Mathew would become the next victim (in 2014), due to his suspicions on Jolly. Up until then, one can assume that Jolly wanted to live a life where nobody questioned or restricted her. Maybe now she might have found her freedom, and not wanting to poison anyone. Until, she laid eyes on Shaju Zacharias, an extended family acquaintance who grew her desire to be married again.
The only issue – he was married and had two kids as well. Consequently, the next target became his family. It has been alleged that Jolly poisoned his 2-year-old daughter, Alphine at a family party. It was portrayed as if the toddler choked on something & lost her life. Devasted by her child’s death, Shaju’s wife (Sili Sebastian) was befriended & blindsided by Jolly on the pretence of well-wishing. The documentary claimed that she gave her some mushroom capsules laced with cyanide, causing an instant death while waiting at the dentist’s and accompanied by her ‘friend Jolly’ in 2016.
Sili’s death was what raised horrifying suspicions in Renji Wilson, Jolly’s sister-in-law’s mind. Observing how Jolly took control of the whole funeral service without a hint of sadness in her eyes, left a bad taste. But when she remarried Shaju within a year, Renji knew there was more than what meets the eye. Looking back at Roy’s post-mortem report and the frequent deaths in her family, the suspicions led her to approach the police & start an investigation. Resulting in Jolly Joseph’s and her accomplice MS Mathew’s arrest.
MS Mathew seemed to have accepted providing cyanide to Jolly since jewellers often use it for extracting & polishing gold. Apart from Roy, cyanide traces were only found in Sili’s body. Police also found a bottle of cyanide in Jolly’s home, making the claims of poisoning strong. However, the case is still ongoing in court and it’s uncertain if Jolly could be convicted in all six deaths, since there’s no direct evidence.
Overall, talking about the documentary & the way of presentation, it’s evident that the creators have chosen a sensationalist approach. The film feels like one episode of maybe a 3-part documentary. They are hard-bent on portraying Jolly as this twisted gold-digger lady but do not provide any answers to the questions raised. For example, if she never worked at NIT, then what did she do? Where did she go every day for years and how did she get her salary?
The film lacks extensive research and facts that would prove the points they are trying to make. Most importantly, they are nowhere near to uncovering the actual motivation behind each death. Most of them are assumptions made by the investigating officer and ‘experts’ trying to understand the psyche behind her actions. But could it be possible that some of the deaths were just coincidental? Like Manchadiyil Mathew’s? There are so many questions but the film answers none, nor does it question much.
Maybe the creators should have waited till there was a final verdict and proven facts pointing all the fingers at the accused. The court proceedings have just started this year and the way Jolly’s lawyer was defending everything, it’s possible that she could walk free of all charges – regardless of her involvement. As a final thought, it’s better to read the latest news article on this case that would tell you everything about the case than wasting 1.5 hours on a film that doesn’t provide anything more than what one already knows.
Rating: 2/5
Curry and Cyanide The Jolly Joseph Case is available for streaming on Netflix.
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