Ever since the 71st National Film Awards were announced on Friday, one of the major talking points has been the jury's decision to completely overlook the Malayalam film Aadujeevitham (The Goat Life). The Prithviraj Sukumaran-starrer was expected to be a strong contender at the National awards in multiple categories, but the jury's decision has come as a shock to many.
While there are conflicting reports about the film failing to obtain censorship before the stipulated time, director Blessy, in an exclusive conversation with us, confirmed that the film was indeed censored on time. "We got the censor done on December 31, 2023 at 4 PM. So that was never an issue. It was even part of the six films picked by the regional panel."
Reacting to the jury's decision, Blessy, hiding his dejection with a faint smile, said, "I don't know what to say. I think it's better not to talk about it. They will have a lot of justification to make, but let people respond to it, not me. The public has seen the films that won the awards and let the jury answer them. At the end of the day, it's the general audience who are made to look inferior."
Meanwhile, many cinephiles on social media have cited Prithviraj's involvement in L2: Empuraan as the reason for Aadujeevitham's snub at the National awards. Prithviraj earned the wrath of the Sangh Parivar for portraying them in a poor light in the film, with RSS mouthpiece Organiser criticising it for allegedly pushing an anti-Hindu political agenda. The makers had to eventually alter a few character names and scenes in the film to get it recensored. While Blessy did not explicitly mention it, he said, "You all know what the politics behind it (the award snub) is. None of it had anything to do with our film, but..."
Aadujeevitham, an adaptation of Benyamin's classic novel of the same name, had Prithviraj playing a man who gets trapped in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, where he is forced into slavery. Upon its release in March 2024, the film emerged as a massive success, both critically and commercially. At the 54th Kerala State Film Awards, it won a whopping nine awards, including wins in the Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Screenplay (adapted) categories.