Prithviraj who plays the lead in Blessy’s big-budget project ‘Aadujeevitham’ said he could never imagine directing such a film during his life time.’ “Blessy sir did not even compromise one day for his vision. I don’t think I could ever do that. Here is a man who committed 16 years of his life for one film,” said the actor-director. He was speaking during a press conference as part of the ‘Aadujeevitham’ movie promotions in Kochi on Monday.
According to him, ‘Aadujeevitham’ will be a benchmark for other filmmakers, a testimony of what directors can do to fulfill their vision. “I am jealous of Blessy sir. It is not easy to pull off such a vision but he did that. When he decided to make such a project, he was one of the biggest filmmakers of that time. Yet, he decided to dedicate so much time for one project,” he said. He added that he gave his 100 per cent for the film. “At the end of every film shoot, I tell myself I could have put in 10 per cent extra for my character. However, with Aadujeevitham, I feel satisfied. I did my best,” he said.
Filmmaker Blessy said the biggest challenge he faced was converting the well-loved book into a film. “Malayalis everywhere celebrated the book. Making that into a film was the biggest challenge. Also, there are 43 chapters in the book. We would need 9 to 10 hours to make that into a film. ‘Aadujeevitham’ was initially 3.5 hours long, but we shortened the duration,” he said.
Blessy added that the film has its own identity, though it is very much based on the film. “I tried to include some more details about the desert beyond what Benyamin saw,” he said. A R Rahman, who was also present at the press meet spoke about the music composition in the film and how he reworked on the score a lot till he felt fully satisfied. Sound designer Resul Pookutty, actors Amala Paul Jimmy Jean-Louis, Rik Aby and Akef Najem were also present during the press conference. ‘Aadujeevitham’ will hit theatres on March 28.
