Director and producer of Prithviraj Sukumaran’s ‘Aaadujeevitham’, Blessy, issued a statement on X, saying that his film should be viewed only as a work of art and nothing else. The filmmaker mentioned that certain attempts were being made to “create social unrest by misinterpreting the content of the film”. However, he never intended to convey anything like that through his work.
Prithviraj Sukumaran’s ‘Aaadujeevitham’ won nine Kerala State Film Awards. On August 24, Blessy shared a note which read, “The film Goat Life (‘Aaadujeevitham’) is an adaptation of the best-selling Malayalam novel by Benyamin, which was published twenty years ago and translated into many languages over the years.”
It continues, “The film tries tirelessly to highlight the nobility of the human soul even in the heart of a tough person. Najeeb’s faith in God grew stronger with each passing day and God comes to him first in the form of Ibrahim Qadri and then in the form of the noble Arab gentleman with the Rolls Royce. I have tried to convey this message consistently throughout the film and never had any intention to hurt the sentiments of any person, race or country.”
The note continues: “The film carefully attempts to portray the compassion and empathy of the Arab people through the figure of the kind gentleman who (without whom Najeeb would have died on the streets) saves Najeeb by taking him in his expensive and immaculate Rolls Royce, offering him water, encouraging him to sleep and taking him to a place where Najeeb can get help. The restaurant staff, the people in the detention camp and at the Arbab checkpoint are all portrayed as epitomes of kindness, compassion and empathy (sic).”
He also said, “I am the director of the film, I wrote the screenplay myself and the film is produced by my own company ‘Visual Romance’, of which I am the sole owner and shareholder. No other person or company is involved in any way in the production of the film.”
The note ended with the words: “The film should be considered only as a work of art and I am making this statement as I have noticed that there are some attempts to create social unrest by misinterpreting the content of the film. I request everyone to refrain from any attempts to attribute anything to the film beyond what I ever wanted to communicate as the screenwriter, director and producer of the film (sic).”
Aaadujeevitham did well in theatres. The film is now available on Netflix.