This three-hour epic begins slowly, revealing just enough background information on the main character's journey to the vast deserts of Masara, Saudi Arabia. Najeeb finds himself stuck in a remote settlement, surrounded by dunes and with only goats and camels to converse with. There, he is subjected to severe torture as a slave. It is undoubtedly challenging to adapt the 43 chapters of the original story—which Benyamin wrote in his well-known novel The Goat Days—into a three-hour film. Because of this, the film omits several elements that may have raised the viewer's emotional response threshold.
 
Amala Paul, for example, has just two flashback sequences to establish her character and relationship with Najeeb's pregnant wife Sainu. The fact that Blessy chose to give very little information on Najeeb's family would frustrate readers of the novel and those who haven't ever read it.
 
The movie foreshadows and also shows some of the struggles Najeeb had while living in the village with camels and goats. Blessy, who has very little food and water, has become an expert in gradually illustrating the difficulties as time passes. After arriving in Saudi Arabia, a clean-shaven, healthy Najeeb gradually changes into a man with dreadlocks, a stiff beard, weak skin, and bones. Prithviraj's acting undoubtedly brings back to life the terrible period Najeeb endured. How a human being could have endured and persevered through what Najeeb endured for years is a question that only remains.
 
Even though it's obvious that adaption is difficult, several parts and sequences in the movie demonstrate how Najeeb gradually bonds with the goats and how, during his stay in the desert, even the smallest act of compassion from the animals is all he receives. Amidst the torment and fruitless efforts to flee, the angel Ibrahim Qadri, portrayed by hollywood star jimmy Jean Louis, appears. At this point, the movie picks up steam and shows not just Najeeb but also Hakim and Ibrahim's attempts to return to their haven or civilized societies.

Unending desert for kilometers, oppressive heat, and worst even, no food or drink. The three head in the direction of the sun. Only two of the three, though, hold up over time. After days of excruciating hikes in the desert, Najeeb slides down a high dune and sees himself rolling down the roadways, knowing that the fire of hope is soon to go out. prithviraj expresses his gratitude to the Arab who picks him up from the road and drops him off in the Saudi Arabian metropolis with every blink of his eye and loud cry of his voice.
 
After regaining consciousness, Najeeb is sent back to his hometown. As he ascends the stairs on the tarmac, he glances back with tears of happiness, realizing that this is the place where Blessy leaves him. Do you still feel unfinished? When the film concluded, the entire theatre was filled with that identical feeling. The last, deeply felt part of Najeeb's reunion with his mother and wife, as well as his first-ever glimpse of his infant, was missing. Only Blessy would know why he chose to keep everything up to our imagination.
 
 
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The Goat Life Review

SIBY JEYYA

28/03/2024 11:43 AM