Aadujeevitham: Prithviraj Sukumaran met real-life Najeeb only on last day of shoot, here's why

Prithviraj Sukumaran in Aadujeevitham

Prithviraj Sukumaran is currently receiving praise from critics and audiences alike for his performance as Najeeb in director Blessy's 'Aadujeevitham' (The Goat Life). Portraying Najeeb's character in the film, Prithviraj Sukumaran underwent intense physical, emotional, and mental transformation for his role. In a recent interview, Prithviraj Sukumaran revealed that he didn't meet the real-life Najeeb Muhammed until the last day of the shoot.

Sharing his process behind this decision, Prithviraj Sukumaran said, "When you need to play a real-life character and when that character is still alive and among us, the first instinct is to meet the person, talk to them, and observe their mannerisms to emulate. However, Blessy advised me against it. He said, ‘No, don't do that. You've read the book and the screenplay, so now you're intelligent enough to understand the process and what we're trying to achieve.' The first time I spoke to Najeeb was after completing the final shot for ‘Aadujeevitham'. We had invited Najeeb to our location that day, and when Blessy called for the cut and wrap, Najeeb was behind the camera."

He further added, "I specifically asked him about five or six instances and what he was thinking, what was going through his mind. It was almost a spiritual connection when he shared his thoughts, and I realized I had similar thoughts. I have to thank Blessy for shooting it in a way where he often told me, ‘I won't call cut. When you feel you're done, you can just say.'"

To embody the role of Najeeb, actor Prithviraj, who agreed to be a part of the film in 2008, had to undergone extreme transformation. "The idea was that I looked like somebody who does not have access to enough food, and was starving most of the time. The only way I could do that is to actually adopt that process, which means that my transformation was almost entirely based on fasting. At times, I used to fast for up to 72 hours. I would drink water and black coffee, but nothing else," said that actor who lost 31 kgs and went through the process twice as the film's shoot was halted in between due to the pandemic.

‘Aadujeevitham (The Goat Life)' is helmed by National Award-winning director Blessy and has released worldwide on March 28, 2024, in five languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.