Mani Ratnam takes a taboo subject—parental shame, societal rejection of disability, and the collapse of family bonds—and wraps it in the guise of a "ghost story." The initial horror of discovering a locked, malnourished child in a dark room is devastating. The film asks a brutal question: What happens when love isn't enough to overcome fear and exhaustion?
The film follows (Raghuvaran) and Chitra (Revathi), a couple raising two lively children, Arjun and Anu, in a bustling apartment complex. Their lives are upended when Shekar reveals a secret he has kept for two years: their third child, Anjali, who Chitra believed was stillborn, is actually alive but living with a terminal intellectual disability.
Mani Ratnam proved with Anjali that he could handle sensitive subjects without exploiting them. He treats the disability with dignity. He doesn't ask the audience to sympathize with Anjali because she is disabled; he makes us love her because of who she is.
The movie explores several themes, including:
Mani Ratnam takes a taboo subject—parental shame, societal rejection of disability, and the collapse of family bonds—and wraps it in the guise of a "ghost story." The initial horror of discovering a locked, malnourished child in a dark room is devastating. The film asks a brutal question: What happens when love isn't enough to overcome fear and exhaustion?
The film follows (Raghuvaran) and Chitra (Revathi), a couple raising two lively children, Arjun and Anu, in a bustling apartment complex. Their lives are upended when Shekar reveals a secret he has kept for two years: their third child, Anjali, who Chitra believed was stillborn, is actually alive but living with a terminal intellectual disability.
Mani Ratnam proved with Anjali that he could handle sensitive subjects without exploiting them. He treats the disability with dignity. He doesn't ask the audience to sympathize with Anjali because she is disabled; he makes us love her because of who she is.
The movie explores several themes, including:
