Those Two Drops of Tear on Aadujeevitham

Since Ennu ninte Moideen, I haven’t had a theatre experience, though I have longed for it intensely. My family is not at all interested in ‘wasting’ their three hours in a movie theatre. Anyway, I want to watch a movie at the theatre itself. I got a perfect chance with the release of Aadujeevitham. It is for sure that Aadujeevitham is a much-awaited Malayalam movie, as its initial work started in 2010 and was released in 2024. Apart from this, it was one of the best-selling novels in Malayalam. Malayalam film lovers have been anticipating its visual experience for the last 14 years.  Moreover, my father had read this novel. So, it is the right moment to act.

 I called my sisters and father and planned for it. My sisters were not at all in the mood to watch such a serious movie because they were the mothers of an eight-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, respectively. So, they preferred a comedy film instead, Premalu or something. They are afraid that the children will get bored and cause trouble. But my father wanted a serious theatrical experience. All I wanted was to go to the theatre, and I was viable for Premalu, Aadujeevithm, or something else.

We searched for tickets, and Premalu has been replaced by Aadujeevitham. We booked six tickets, even though we were seven, with the view that the kids would share the seat. They were very interested, as one of them, Rishik, my nephew, was going to the theatre for the first time in his life.

That much-awaited day has arrived. We booked tickets for the evening show, which starts at 6.30 p.m. Before entering the theatre, we ensured that the kids were occupied with two big cartons of popcorn; at least they would be busy with them. They sat beside me, sharing one seat. The screen was filled with the miseries of Najeeb and the widespread desert. I was peeping at the kids, who were engaged in eating popcorn and chatting. At the time of the intermission, they went out to recharge their popcorn baskets and returned with larger cartons and started eating. As the story progresses, the way of escape—Najeeb, Hakim, and Khadiri walking miserably through the desert—the whole theatre seriously watches those scenes of snakes and the sand storm breathlessly—those two are enjoying popcorn. Suddenly, Sraddha, the girl, told me that she was fed up with popcorn and allowed me to have it. As I was waiting for that statement, I started my work.

Meanwhile, the movie was about to close. Najeeb has been rescued by a kind-hearted Arabian and he reached Kunjikka’s hotel. Then he was handed over to the police officers. The emotional scene in which his Arbab identifies him and admits that he is not his real Arbab if he is so, would kick him back to Masra. This Arabic dialogue was written in Malayalam as a subtitle. As Sraddha, a UKG student, was not able to read it, she asked me very seriously what had happened after seeing Najeeb crying. I explained the situation. I was sure that she couldn’t understand such an emotionally complicated scene.

The last heart-touching dialogue of Najeeb—while everyone returns to their home from Arabia with a lot of gifts like chocolates and toys for their children, he has to spare nothing for his son and wife except his life—marks the ending of the film. We stood from our seats. Sraddha went to her mother, held her tightly, and cried aloud. I thought she was sleepy, but amidst her sobs, it was heard, “I want to see my father at once," who is working abroad. After hearing this, we all got panic. All of us tried to console her by saying that “your father would come on Sunday,"  as he had planned, and “you two have gone to his place, right? Have you seen his place? Is it like the Najeeb’s?” etc. She did not stop crying. Still, she was saying, “Acha, I want to see you.” This softened our hearts too.

Here I have not told you about the craftsmanship of Blessy, the director, and the dedication of Prithvi Raj as Najeeb. That cry says everything. Even a girl of six could not at all enjoy but experience and identify the whole scenario. Then what more to say? Aadujeevitham is really a visual experience of the hardships that Najeeb faced.

Radhika, A, Assistant Professor of English, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Kizhattoor, Perinthalmanna