Movie Review | Blessy's The Goat Life: Magnum Opus on Human Suffering is Oscar Material

Starring: Prithviraj Sukumaran, H.R. Gokul, Amala Paul, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Shobha Mohan

Direction: Blessy

Based on Benyamin’s ‘Aadujeevitham’, Blessy presents a three-hour odyssey on human suffering and endurance. It was William Faulkner who said “…man will not merely endure; he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance”. Blessy obviously bites a khubus, a desert bread difficult to chew and swallow. The endurance test of the protagonist is so shocking, consistent, and mind-boggling that strategically as an art form Blessy could have well have chopped a lot of what arguably constituted the text of the original work.

Make no mistake, this is a huge work. A magnum opus on human suffering. The choice of translating the novel into a film, more so in languages outside Malayalam, was probably in itself a conscious walk into a desert masara, a goat farm. The saga of the survival which is largely linear requires a short script or a sharp film-maker. For all the efforts, Blessy suffers on the two counts. There are multiple challenges when a film-maker from Kerala rushes to making a film for the larger South Indian audience. When suffering becomes a monotony, as it does here, the purpose of projecting the sufferer as the hero misses the target. This emphatically is not to rob Blessy of the humongous effort. To the uninitiated, the film was conceptualised as early as in 2009 and moved forward in bits and pieces. It is also a Covid survivor. It is said that the desert schedules over Wadi Rum, Jordan and the Algerian desert in the Sahara, were hugely challenging. Kudos to the Blessy-Prithvi combo that they are emotionally and intellectually honest to the suffering of the protagonist. The film is about the huge canvas of the desert, sand, hailstorms, camels and goats as much as it is about the human spirit. It certainly visits certain presumptive takes on life when they become challenges. Survival is a kaleidoscopic arrangement of glass pieces spread on a path one has to compulsorily tread. The canvas reflects huge, brushed signs of human suffering — sometimes dipped in tears, sometimes too dry even for tears. You do not realise when the orange turns brown and then dark grey. This crimson effort warrants a salute for its rich cinema and often for the cinematic cause too.

It all starts when Najeeb (Prithviraj Sukumaran) and Hakeem (K.R. Gokul) set out in search of the Middle East pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. In all fairness, the twosome does not have stars in their eyes. Simple dreams. Najeeb hopes to give his wife, expectant mom Sainu (Amala Paul), and mom Ummah (Shobha Mohan), a small home. Hakeem has no great dreams either. Their multifold challenges begin when they face language barriers at the port of landing and are almost lost till Khafeel (Talib Al Balushi) dumps them in an animal trolley, quickly separates them and tears up their immigration documentation. The unending trauma of Najeeb who is unwittingly thrown into a masara, a goat farm, with not even food and water starts and he is clueless about the endless desert. The suffering begins in the context of so much of normal life is taken as a given. Each one watching ‘The Goat Life’ in a multiplex is privileged, definitely and distinctly. Moved from the scenario of challenge, we take human companionship, communication, water, food, dignity — nay, our very existence — for granted. When these presumptive givens are challenged, the definition of life changes to one of survival. Lost in the desert is a man whose colours of life are moments of recall of the breezy river waters back home in Kerala and his romance with his wife. Sometimes montage moments soothe, sometimes they hurt, they pierce the human fabric and leave scars. Najeeb only has Hindiwala (Robbin Das) who he cannot understand and camels and sheep for company. He decides on the great escape. He is assisted by Ibrahim Khadri (Jimmy John Louis) after he accidently meets up with his lost friend Hakeem and finally makes it to India. The Goat Life is no Dunki. There are no sweet moments. There isn’t any humour. If there is compassion, it comes from animals. This is more Blessy’s Schindler’s List.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The likes of Naseeruddin Shah would do anything to play the protagonist. It is a singular privilege that it is handed over to Prithvi. One cannot but conjure images of a Balraj Sahani, a Dilip Kumar, an Irfan Khan doing Najeeb. The challenge and brilliance of Prithvi is in living up to a role where his eyes and his face have to make up for lack of dialogue. With the heavy beard and just a part of chin and eyes visible, the challenge is more acute. This, too, he overcomes. This is arguably a National Award-winning performance. In case the powers that be overlook him for recognition as the best actor, it is their credibility that is in question and not his performance. In fact, this is Oscar material.

The film lasting almost three hours documents the human spirt in the face of huge adversity. How one swims up the abyss hopelessness and misery and torture is thematic song of The Goat Life. Prithvi is GOAT. The film is not for the weak-hearted.