The Goat Life

All things considered a neat adaptation of Aadujeevitham. I read the novel around 15 years ago and loved it. I don't remember everything from it but there were some standout moments from the novel that I missed here. Maybe those were the more fictional aspects of the novel and this could be closer to Najeeb's real life, I don't know. But it really felt like that in the first half there was so much focus on certain aspects that could've been shortened with more impact even if they didn't include the parts from the book that I wanted to see since it's already three hours. The initial portions of Prithviraj as the newly arrived immigrant were also not as convincing as I would've liked. But the film fully commits in every department in the second half and makes such a beautiful experience. Prithviraj's transformation and his suffering are portrayed as a person who is very normal and innocent in contrast to the similar character in Mariyan (which took a lot of inspiration from this novel) who was essentially portrayed as a hero. Periyone song was incredible but it was too short and didn't fully give the impact it could've. In fact, a lot of scenes suffer from this because of poor editing. Other than Periyone, most of the music is either too much or just not matching what is going on. Honestly disappointed with the music. Even the ending of the movie felt a little abrupt, especially considering how the flashbacks were set up but it ended without the full payoff.

Even with all the problems I had Aadujeevitham is a solid movie and a neat adaptation of the novel with incredible performances, especially from Prithviraj. As someone who had read the novel, there were a lot of things that were easier to understand and also other things that I was disappointed with. It felt like it would be an entirely different experience for those who haven't read the novel.