Creating a sandstorm at the box office

Blessy’s ‘Aadujeevitham- The Goat Life’ is a critical and commercial success. The director talks about the many experiences he went through during the shooting.

By Shevlin Sebastian

At Director Blessy’s temporary office at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kochi, on a summer afternoon, the phone calls keep coming. They are from London, Belfast and North America, where there is a sizeable Malayali population. People are complimenting him on his latest film, ‘Aadujeevitham- The Goat Life’. Blessy always responds with a soft, “Thank you.”

The film is a critical and commercial success. His associates, who mill around, are smiling. At 2.45 p.m., Blessy finally has lunch. It comprises a green leafy salad topped off by a glass of watermelon juice.

‘Aadujeevitham’ is based on a best-selling novel by Malayalam writer Benyamin. It is a true story of a labourer called Najeeb Mohammed, who lived in a village called Arattupuzha. To better his economic prospects, he flew to Saudi Arabia in 1993. But he ended up working in the desert, far away from human habitation, looking after 700 goats. The Saudi boss treated him like a slave. After two-and-a-half years of agony, Naseem managed to escape through the desert and return home.

Blessy’s first and only choice as hero was Prithviraj. “I knew I needed an actor who would have the dedication,” said Blessy. “The shooting would take around two years. Second, Prithviraj is an intelligent actor.”

This was important. When Blessy interviewed Najeeb, he could not articulate the emotions he went through except to say he cried a lot. So Prithviraj had to discover the emotions of a man in the morass of despair. “I knew Prithviraj had the calibre to do this,” said Blessy.

Of course, the extraordinary transformation of Prithviraj from a healthy man to become stick and bones, because of a lack of proper food, is a sight to behold. Prithviraj lost over 30 kgs mainly by starving. “Yes, it was an incredible effort by Prithvraj,” said Blessy.

But, during the shoot, Blessy faced obstacles. The original plan was to shoot the desert sequences at the Thar Desert in Rajasthan. When he went there, he discovered Indian goats looked different from Saudi Arabian goats. So they decided to import around 100 goats from Saudi Arabia. But to do this, the goats would have to be in quarantine for one month in Dubai.

After that, veterinary doctors would inspect the goats to ensure that they had no viruses. Only after that would they issue a certificate. When the goats would disembark at the port of Kandla in Gujarat, they had to remain in quarantine for one month. If any goat fell sick or died during this time, the authorities would cull the entire group. So the director gave up the idea.

Blessy went in search of the ideal desert. He travelled to Morocco, Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, and Abu Dhabi. Finally, he zeroed in on Wadi Rum in Jordan, and the Timimoun desert in Algeria.

Indeed, the desert visuals in the film are stunning: vast vistas of undulating sands, followed by high mountains and rocky formations. “Members of the Bedouin tribe live there,” said Blessy. “They added to the charm of the place.”

But the shooting was very difficult. The logistical challenges were immense. The climatic conditions changed all the time. It could become freezing cold or boiling hot. “A sandstorm could start at any moment,” said Blessy. In the end, they could shoot only between March and May, when the climate was most suitable.

In the film, Prithviraj interacts with goats a lot. Asked about the psychology of goats, Blessy said, “They are stubborn and individualistic. It was very difficult to get them to do something. It was after much cajoling they would behave in a certain manner.”

But the crew was ecstatic when they found a kid (baby goat) who was loving, obedient and followed commands. “We would feed it biscuits, which it liked a lot,” said Blessy. “The shooting went forward smoothly.”

Unfortunately, two days after the shoot, the goat suffered from severe stomach problems. The reason: it had consumed too many biscuits. Then it fell sick and passed away. “That was the saddest moment during the 150-day shoot spread over four years,” said Blessy. “It remains a heartache for me.”

(An edited version was published in The Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)