(image taken from Malaysian Indian Artist Portal)I got to know about the existence of this movie by chance. There was no publicity of this movie prior to its showing. I found out that it is a local independent film which was written, directed and starred by M Subash. Starring along him are big names in the industry like Ruminah Sidek, Jalil Hamid, Maimon Mutalib and Khatijah Tan.
The movie is about Badrul, a handicapped Indian orphan, who was abused by his step-mother and step-aunt. Despite all that, his love and obedience towards his mother is unquestionable. He worked hard to provide for his mother by doing all sorts of menial jobs. He gave all his earnings to his mother and spent only 30cents on a pencil for himself. A pencil can give him so much joy as he loves drawing. His only support is his grandmother, played by Ruminah Sidek. She is the one who gives him the will to go on and always to remember God, never to hate others and only have love in his heart even for those who ill-treated him. She was moved to tears when Badrul set up a fake stage for her to perform as it was her dream since young to dance on a stage in front of an audience.
Badrul met Junid, another lonely and problematic character who is haunted by his past. He guided Junid towards God and to lead a more meaningful life. Friendship between them blossomed from there on.
It was a moving movie that I actually cried towards the end. I am especially moved by the words of advice from his grandmother. Some of the lessons learnt:
1. Never beg for money. God gives us the ability to work so work for money and make sure it is from a halal source. Being handicapped is not a reason not to work. Work hard and insya-Allah, you will be rewarded, even if it is a small amount.
2. Never hate anyone, no matter how bad you were ill-treated.
3. Simple things can make you happy so it's actually not about the money.
4. Last but not least, God is always there to guide us and 'rezki' ada di mana2.
Good work by M Subash.
