Visual Romance’s The Goat Life (dubbed from Malayalam film Aadujeevitham; UA) is the story of a man who is fooled into going to an Arabic country for a white-collar job.
Najib (Prithviraj Sukumaran) and his friend, Hakim (K.R. Gokul), are conned into going to an Arabic nation from India for respectable jobs. They are promised handsome salaries and good homes to live in. But once they reach the country, they realise to their horror that they have been fooled. They are separated from one another very soon. Najib ends up doing jobs like grazing goats and camels. He lives in inhuman conditions and hardly gets two meals a day. Since it is a desert area, he is not even given enough water to drink, leave alone for washing and bathing. His boss is a tyrant. Days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into years, but there’s no respite for Najib. To make matters worse, he doesn’t understand the Arabic language at all, and his bosses and co-workers don’t know a word of Hindi or English, the two languages known to him. He is heartbroken as he remembers his mother and wife who, incidentally, was pregnant when he left India. Hakim is in no better conditions. One day, Najib and Hakim meet by sheer chance. Their joy, obviously, knows no bounds. Hakim introduces his friend, Ibrahim Khadiri (Jimmy Jean-Louis), to Najib and they promise to return soon and take Najib with them to escape from there. Are they able to return to India?
The story, written by Benyamin, is based on a true story. Although the story is about grit and determination, it is so long-drawn that it often tests the audience’s patience. This is also because almost the entire film is shot in the deserts and hence it becomes monotonous for the viewers. Blessy’s screenplay tries every formula to shake the audience emotionally but the sufferings of Najib are so acute that the viewer becomes numb to them after a point of time. Also, had the writer concentrated much more on the good times spent by Najib with his family, it would have made his sufferings more touching. The escape drama of Najib, his friend and the African saviour is so lengthy that after a point of time, even the audience almost lose interest (in a manner of speaking) and stop hoping that they would be out of the never-ending desert. Sandstorms, snakes, blistering heat, thirst, fatigue… everything terrible that can happen to the trio, happens. Blessy’s dialogues are simple. Since the language spoken by the inhabitants of the desert is incomprehensible to Najib as well as to the viewers, many portions of the drama are not understood ad verbatim. There’s a difference between understanding every word of the drama that is unfolding and comprehending just the gist of it. Obviously, the audience hardly feel invested in the drama because the dialogues mouthed by the locals are simply incomprehensible — and there are many such dialogues. Otherwise, the dialogues are alright. Having said all this, it must be added that since the actor (Prithviraj Sukumaran) playing the central character of Najib is a big star in the South, the drama of the desert will definitely appeal emotionally to the audience there.
Prithviraj Sukumaran does a very fine job. His performance is sincere and honest. He gives his all to the character of Najib. His sufferings appear so real and his transformation from a young, handsome man to an ugly, unkempt and frustrated man over the years, is brilliant. K.R. Gokul is very nice in the role of Najib’s friend, Hakim. Jimmy Jean-Louis lends lovely support as Ibrahim Khadiri. Amala Paul is expressive as Najib’s wife, Sainu. Shoba Mohan has her moments as Najib’s mother. Talib makes his mark as Kafeel. Rik Aby is okay as Kafeel Jr. Robin Das is alright as Hindiwala. Naser Karutheni (as Kunjikka), Baburaj Thiruvalla (as Karuvatta Sreekumar), Ali George (as Hamid), Akef Najem (as the rich man in Rolls Royce), Vijay Chandrachudan and Ajesh (both as friends), Haasan (as the grass truck driver), Sunil Kumar (as the airport staffer on telephone in Muscat), Shijo Dominic (as Kunjikka’s assistant), K.C. Eapen (as the hotel customer), Renjith Ambady (as the barber) and the others are adequate.
Blessy’s direction is good but the narration would not appeal to the Hindi-speaking audience. A.R. Rahman’s music is melodious. Lyrics (Prasoon Joshi, Rafiq Ahamed, Vivek, Jayant Kaikini, Rakendu Mouli, A.R. Rahman, Rianjali) are of a fine standard. Brinda’s choreography of the romantic song is simply lovely. A.R. Rahman’s background music is phenomenal. Sunil K.S.’s cinematography is breathtaking. Visual effects and computer graphics are exceptionally good. Dhilip Subbarayan’s action and stunts are thrilling. Prasanth Madhav’s production designing, and Ayyoub Nahhas’ art direction are very good. A. Sreekar Prasad’s editing is sharp. Dubbing is good.
On the whole, The Goat Life is a well-made film but it doesn’t have much for the Hindi-speaking audience because Prithviraj Sukumaran is not a big star for them. At the Hindi box-office, therefore, the film stands no chance whatsoever. However, the Malayalam original has the potential to click very well down South.
Released on 29-3-’24 at Metro Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity & opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.