Kerala State Film Awards: Aadujeevitham - The Goat Life Wins Big, Prithviraj Sukumaran Named Best Actor

Kerala State Film Awards: The survival drama Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life swept key honours at the 54th Kerala State Film Awards, announced by the government on Friday.

The survival drama Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life swept key honours at the 54th Kerala State Film Awards

Source : IMDb

Kerala State Film Awards: The survival drama Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life swept key honours at the 54th Kerala State Film Awards, announced by the government on Friday. The film earned accolades for both Best Director and Best Actor. 

Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life Best Film, Prithviraj Sukumaran Best Actor

Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran was named Best Actor for his portrayal of Najeeb, a Kerala migrant worker enduring the brutal challenges of life in a Gulf desert. The film's director, Blessy, was also recognised with the Best Director award. 

While the seasoned actor Mammootty narrowly missed out on the Best Actor award to Prithviraj, he claimed victory in the Best Film category for his production and lead role in Kathal. 

Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life wins big

Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life emerged as the night's biggest winner, sweeping a total of nine awards, including Best Director for Blessy and Best Screenplay Adaptation. The film's technical excellence was also highlighted, with accolades for K.S. Sunil as Best Cameraman and the duo of Oscar-winner Resul Pookutty and Sharath Mohan for Best Sound Mixing.  

Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life further secured the titles of Most Popular Film, Best Makeup Artist (Renjith Ampadi), and earned a special jury mention for actor Gokul. 

In the Best Actress category, the award was shared by the legendary Urvasi for her role in Ullaozhuku and Beena R. Chandran for her performance in Thadavu. The renowned music director Vidhyadaran Master was honoured as the Best Male Singer, while Ann Amy took home the award for Best Female Singer. 

The jury, chaired by veteran Indian director Sudhir Mishra, had the challenging task of selecting winners from a record number of entries this year. A total of 160 films were in contention, with 38 of them being the work of debut directors. The selection process involved two sub-committees, led by Priyanandan and N. Alagappan, who reviewed 80 films each before presenting the final 38 to the main jury. 

Prithiviraj on his win

Reflecting on his achievement, Prithviraj expressed his joy and pride, acknowledging that this was his third state award and the most challenging one yet. "This award feels incredibly special, as Goat Life was a collective dream that took years to materialize. Blessy's unwavering dedication and meticulous screenplay made my role both demanding and fulfilling. The physical transformation was tough, but the real challenge was sustaining the character over the four years of filming. I'm grateful for the creative freedom Blessy allowed me, and I hope to take on more roles like this in the future," said Prithviraj. 

Director Blessy on his win

Director Blessy, who now has three Best Director awards under his belt, was equally thrilled with the recognition Goat Life received. "Winning nine awards is a huge honor, but I'm especially happy for Gokul's special jury mention—it's a fantastic start to his career. For me, the real achievement is reaching the audience and seeing how they embrace the film. The journey from book to screen was challenging, but the end result has been immensely rewarding," he shared.