Prithviraj’s performance drives a survival drama that borders on monotony
Unimaginable are the ways in which adversities can reshape a human being. The physical transformation is the most obvious of these. But, Blessy’s Aadujeevitham — based on the reallife story of a man who ends up living in slavelike conditions in a goat farm in the middle of a desert — deals with much more than this.
For instance, it is interesting how the film treats the illfated man’s struggles with language. Initially, when Najeeb (Prithviraj Sukumaran) lands up with a younger compatriot at a Saudi airport, one sees him struggling to communicate in any language other than Malayalam. This also has a huge role to play in the unfortunate turn their life takes afterwards.
Later, after years of herding goats and camels in the farm, and with no human interaction (other than the abusive words from his ‘owner’), he loses the only language he knew, almost bleating like a goat when he sees his longlost friend. Aadujeevitham, which otherwise is mostly filled with extreme suffering and heightened emotions, has a few such deli
Prithviraj in ‘Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life’ own with some remarkable physical and emotional transformation to become a character who went through unbelievable suffering. He does things that can only be done by internalising the character — something he is often accused of not doing — and pulls off perhaps the best performance of his career.
A.R. Rahman, in his rare work for a Malayalam movie, comes up with a soundtrack that suits the theme and setting, with Periyone and its various iterations being the high points. The few sequences of Najeeb’s life back home are strictly functional, except for that breathtaking shift from the river to the desert at the end of a song. Amala Paul gets a role so short that leaves no scope for performance.
If hard work were the sole benchmark for a film, Aadujeevitham would rank right up there among the best. And, quite a lot of the hard work does pay off too. Yet, it leaves one with the wish that the script had enough to break the monotony that sets in at some points.
Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life is currently running in cinemas