
I had my haircut today (or rather cutting what’s left of it). The radio at the barber’s blared this very familiar but long unheard of song: Anjali, Anjali, sung by Illayaraja.
I first saw this film on TV on Deepavali day of 1995. At that time I was with my investigation team at the Penang Station Staff Headquarters at Batu Ferringhi in the midst of an criminal investigation for the Air Force.
The film is about a dying autistic child, Anjali. She was born into a family that has two elder siblings. When the hospital alerted the father about her condition, so the father colluded with the hospital staff to inform his wife that she had stillbirth. The father however continued to care for this child secretly.
Eventually the truth leaked out, the child is brought back to the household. The film explores why the husband did what he did, how the family, including the two other children come to accept the child into their lives, how she is cared for, and whether they finally are ready to let her go.
This film is a true tearjerker, and tests your feelings if you are a parent.
Watch it if you are a parent.

