The Goat Life or Aadujeevitham has grossed ₹81 crore at the worldwide box office. The upcoming Malayalam movie is based on the 2008 bestselling novel Aadujeevitham by Benyamin. After the film's box office success, Blessy has been interacting with the media about bringing to life his vision and how he fostered the project for 16 years.

Blessy on reinterpreting Aadujeevitham for the screen

According to the makers, the film follows the true story of a young man called Najeeb, who in the early ’90s migrated from the lush green shores of Kerala in search of the fortunes in a land abroad. Blessy recalled his meeting with Najeeb, who according to the director, did not reveal much details of what happened to him during his years in captivity. This led to the makers reinterpreting his story in The Goat Life, starring Prithviraj Sukumaran.

"When I spoke to the real-life Najeeb, he used to only say that he was crying all the time. He was not able to respond or give much information on what he went through to a lot of questions from the director. So basically what has been done is an adaptation from the book, but not really the characterisation of how really a character like that, who wouldn’t have spoken much for days would have behaved, is the writer-director’s interpretation," Blessy told Pinkvilla.

The director added, "Because it was in that context and because the real Najeeb could not contribute too much in the conversation, what was done was based on the research on the character and how that character would have behaved, and not from the real Najeeb. So that is why probably, the real Najeeb couldn’t have contributed much."  

Blessy on his magnum opus The Goat Life

Besides Malayalam, the film has been be released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. “The novel is based on some real incidents and I want to captivate the viewers with each moment that something as unbelievable happened to someone. Truth has never been so much stranger than fiction. The scale of the movie demands to be felt within the confines of a theatre and we are excited to bring this magnum opus to audiences around the world,” the director said.

The Goat Life boasts of music direction and sound design by Academy Award winners AR Rahman and Resul Pookkutty, respectively.