The Goat Life

The Goat Life (natively known as Aadujeevitham) is a 2024 Malayalam-language biographical survival drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Blessy. The film is an international co-production involving companies in India and the United States. It is an adaptation of the 2008 best-selling Malayalam novel Aadujeevitham by Benyamin, which is based on the real-life story of Najeeb, a Malayali immigrant laborer in the Persian Gulf. The film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran alongside Jimmy Jean-Louis and K. R. Gokul, with Talib Al Balushi, Rik Aby, Amala Paul, Shobha Mohan.

The film was initially banned in the GCC countries other than UAE, subsequently the ban was lifted in all the countries except in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The novel was also previously banned in the same countries.

Blessy had wanted to adapt Aadujeevitham ever since he read the novel in 2008 and has cast Prithviraj as the lead. The following year, he bought the rights from Benyamin and began writing the screenplay. However, due to budget constraints which prevented substantial progress, the film went into development hell. Blessy spent years searching for a producer, finally finding one in 2015, allowing the project to gain momentum. Jimmy Jean-Louis and Steven Adams joined Blessy as co-producers. A. R. Rahman composed the film's original score and songs.

Principal photography took place in phases between March 2018 and July 2022 through six schedules in the deserts of Wadi Rum, Jordan and the Algerian desert in the Sahara with some scenes shot in Kerala, India. The crew was stranded in Jordan for 70 days from March to May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic's restrictions. They were eventually repatriated to India via the Indian government's evacuation programme, Vande Bharat Mission. Filming concluded on 14 July 2022. The cinematography was done by Sunil K. S while editing was handled by A. Sreekar Prasad.

The film was released worldwide on 28 March 2024 to critical acclaim from critics, who praised Prithviraj's performance, technical aspects, music, direction and the editing and grossed over ₹158 crore (US$19 million). The Goat Life is currently the 5th highest grossing Malayalam film of all time, the 2nd highest grossing Malayalam film of 2024, as well as one of the highest grossing Indian films of 2024. The film was included in Deadline’s Global Breakouts of 2024.