Aadujeevitham Review: Unparalleled Cinematic Experience!

Ashwin Ram

Aadujeevitham is a survival drama based on true events. Prithviraj Sukumaran plays the lead role. Veteran Malayalam filmmaker Blessy has directed this movie, while the music is composed by AR Rahman.

Premise:
This movie is based on the real life story of Najeeb Muhammed, a man from Kerala who went to work in the Gulf and was enslaved in the desert for three years, showcases how he escaped from there and returned home.

 
Writing/ Direction:

Fascinating work by director Blessy, every frame depicts his vision to provide a stunning audio-visual experience. Survival drama is a very tough genre to handle as the character count is generally minimal. The story mostly focuses on a single person, his life before he left home could have explored more to get a stronger connection with the character. Also, the edit pattern to split and insert the flashback portions is fine, but sequences appearing in the non-linear pattern disturb the narrative. Prithviraj eventually learns Arabic, but there are no subtitles for those portions before that when men are communicating with him in the language. Although it is a very calculated directorial decision, it is a pain for a movie-goer to sit clueless inside a cinema hall, without knowing what exactly is going on. There is no impact with respect to suffocation till halfway, as the situations taking place aren’t that big a threat and also the timeline transitions were quickly taking place. With barely any story progression, it was pretty much a boring affair until the mid-point. Thankfully, the second half is quite engaging with many memorable portions. The struggle hits real hard as the situations the lead character faces are shown in such a way we realize it is both emotionally and physically impossible to handle. The film becomes a nice mix of realistic storytelling and cinematic experience by profoundly presenting certain stretches like the eagles surrounding a dead body, the snake-crawls, the sand storm episode. The best part is that the tension prevailed even after entering the road and the phone call summed everything well.

Performances:
Prithviraj has literally lived as Najeeb Muhammed, he has devoted a lot of time for the shoot, his efforts are evident on-screen and indeed worthy for an inspiring piece like this. He has put his heart and soul not only for the performance, his physical transformation also plays a key role in the movie’s believability factor. External help like makeup, hairstyle and costume design added a huge value to the narrative. There are only a handful of supporting characters and they all did well by maintaining the nativity of the storyworld. Amala Paul had very little screen time, unfortunately her character was also not established in an impressive way.

 
Technicalities:
Hands down the best work of AR Rahman in recent times, all the songs are good. The background score was pure bliss like a beautiful bouquet, there are many sequences driven by music that land great. K.S.Sunil’s cinematography will be remembered and spoken for years to come, every frame is breathtaking and so nature-friendly. The very few CGI shots that exist involve animals and are meticulously done. Sreekar Prasad’s editing is a mixed bag, there are many well-cut portions, but then the continuity jumps pull his value down at places. The sound department has also worked to perfection to provide us a soulful desert feel.

Bottomline

The first half is a bit slow-paced due to the dry narration. Also it doesn’t offer an astonishing unheard story, but the big-screen medium is utilized to the maximum extent. The brisk later half, along with a terrific act by Prithviraj and Blessy’s skillful direction bring this one home.

Rating: 3/5