Starring Prithviraj Sukumaran as the lead, 'The Goat Life' (Aadujeevitham) has been shot in multiple countries across the world.
"'The Goat Life' is the greatest survival adventure ever, simply because something as unbelievable as that actually happened to someone." - Blessy, director.
Najeeb is a Malayali laborer who migrates to Saudi Arabia in pursuit of a better life. However, he soon finds himself forced into slavery as a goatherd on a secluded farm. Will he summon the strength to break free from the chains and achieve freedom? Will he be able to overcome all the adversities and fly again, writing a new destiny for himself?
(Credit: therealprithvi)
Well, written and directed by Blessy, and starring Prithviraj Sukumaran as the lead, 'The Goat Life' is all set to hit theatres tomorrow, and the excitement surrounding it is quite palpable now. It's one of the most ambitious films to have ever been made in India; the entire team worked tirelessly for over a decade and left no stone unturned in bringing the incredible story to screen. Be it the visuals, the background scores, or the performances - 'The Goat Life' promises us a never-seen-before experience, and if you have seen the trailer, you know it well!
"This is the toughest role I have played so far," said Prithviraj about his role as Najeeb.
(Credit: threalprithvi)
One of the major aspects of 'The Goat Life' is its stellar visuals - which owe a lot to the locations where they were shot. In this article, let's have a look at them.
(Credit: Visual Romance)
(It is worth noting that although the film is set in Saudi Arabia, the production team didn't get permission to shoot there)
The principal photography of ‘The Goat Life' began in March 2018 in Thiruvalla, Kerala. About 25% of the film (especially the flashback scenes of Najeeb's life before he arrived in Saudi Arabia) was shot there. Another major location in Kerala was the Muthalamada railway station at the Palakkad border.
Later, in 2022, an important sequence was shot at Perunad, Ranni.
The film's second schedule began in 2019 in Jordan where several crucial scenes were shot.
The team had a subsequent schedule for Jordan (in the Wadi Rum desert) in 2020. However, the shooting was delayed as the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. They filmed for 25 days in their 70-day stay in the desert camp. Later, in 2022, they returned to Jordan to shoot some other scenes.
(Credit: therealprithvi)
An interesting fact is when the team was shooting in Wadi Rum, they met the cinematographer and the VFX supervisor of ‘Dune' who were there scouting for locations. As Prithviraj shared in an interview, "I have seen people say that ‘Aadujeevitham’ looks like ‘Dune,’ especially the visual palette. You won’t believe it when we were shooting ‘Aadujeevitham’ in Wadi Rum. We met the cinematographer and the VFX supervisor of ‘Dune,’ because they were there scouting for locations in Wadi Rum to set up their shoot. So, we shot much before that."
The production team arrived in the Sahara Desert in April 2022 to shoot several major portions. In particular, they shot extensively at Timimoun.
In an interview, Prithviraj spoke about his experience shooting in the Sahara, saying, "... after a year and a half, we resumed shooting in a place called Timmoun in Algeria, located in the middle of the Sahara Desert. No film crew had gone there before. Ma Blessy sir has a deep passion for cinema. We could shoot there because of him."
(Credit: therealprithvi)
'The Goat Life' is a film made with enormous passion and with zero compromises. Having been in the making for over a decade, it is finally coming to theatres to provide us with an unparalleled cinematic experience.
