User reviews

There are 2 major aspects of this movie which makes it very interesting - 1. ManiRatnam's unique and brilliant style of movie-making, 2. Children.

The movie actually reminds me of the novel 'To Kill a Mocking Bird'. And the director has done a great job indianising the novel and making a commercial movie out of it.The characters of Jem, Scout and Boo Radley from the novel have been very well depicted in the movie.

The brother-sister relationship (played by Tarun and Shruthi), different kinds of people in the colony, the scarily unseen neighbor(played by Prabhu) who is spied by the kids, how the society discriminates certain people (a mentally retarded sister in this case), how the 2 children take the brunt of their neighborhood kids ridicule and then learn to handle it - have all been very well depicted.

Though the screenplay is not perfect and definitely not as good as ManiRatnam's other movies, we still find it interesting and unforgettable. All the characters have been very well played (Credit goes to the director for getting it out of the kids). And not to forget the great music and great cinematography.

Overall its a 'must watch' movie.

It's common knowledge that Mani Ratnam is considered one of India's best directors, if not the best. That reputation has come thanks to films like Anjali. It is entertaining at times and at others, unabashedly poignant to the point of being melodramatic. But, what it never fails to do is make you think. Backed up by a fantastic crew comprising of legends like Ilaiyaraja and the precocious performances of the children, the film is a landmark effort in portraying the trials and tribulations of a family when faced with a totally unexpected development.

A middle-class family is fairly contented until the wife delivers a still-born child. However, with her husband's gentle administration and the antics of her other children, the wife puts her grief behind until one day, she is shocked to discover that her husband is "seeing" another woman, as alleged by her son who happens to spy on a secret conversation while welcoming the New Year with a raucous dance party at midnight. Following a furious argument, the husband is forced to admit that the still-born child is still alive, but in no position to lead a normal life. Struck by autism, the child's days are numbered and the husband (who happens to be a doctor) seeks the assistance of a specialist (who is incidentally the other woman) to revive the child and help it lead a happy life. The wife is undaunted by the traumatizing prognosis and takes the eponymous child home to care for her.

At the apartment, hell breaks loose with the neighboring kids taunting the unwitting child, whose siblings retaliate with force. Fortunately, the child is slowly accepted by the other children, but the adults aren't so accommodating. An ex-convict enters the frame somewhere and hisses venomous threats at the apartment association members. In due course, the child becomes the darling of the block and all seems well.

One fine day, Anjali's elder sister tries to awake her, with no response. The elder brother tries likewise and to his horror, discovers that she won't wake again. Husband and wife are equally devastated but the elder sister won't give up. The film ends up with the elder sister's haunting exhortations for Anjali to wake up from a never-ending sleep.

I was 10 when I watched this film for the first time and I remember bawling my eyes out when it ended. So good were the performances of the three child leads, that they were honored with the National Award for the best child artist. That said, the film raises some uncomfortable questions: would real-life parents sacrifice so much to care for such an ailing child? Would society be kind enough to see beneath the obvious illness and appreciate a child for what it is? Your guess is as good as mine.

An awesome effort.

Many reviewers have said it's 'To kill a mocking bird'. I feel its story also has lots of E.T in it.

The way the alien is found disgusting, then adorable and then the E.T finds home. So if 'To kill a mocking bird is also included, I'll give only one star. It was entertaining and can be seen as a derivative adaptation and not a copy of the two films, there it scores a 8.

The music is the highlight of the movie, so are the children. Just love all the songs in the movie, has got a lot of nostalgic value.

Raguvaran and Revathy gave a very well nuanced performance as the mom and dad of Anjali, and Shamili as Anjali was outstanding, should congratulate Manirathnam for extracting good performances out of the artists.

From this movie it is proved that Mani Ratnam has a knack of different topics of human relations.Anjali is basically a movie about how a mentally retarded kid finds herself suddenly between a family and whole lot of friends in a group of apartments.The family members,played by raghuvaran and revathy(one of my favorite actress) as mother and father of the child "anjali" suited their roles perfectly well.I still wonder how mani sir made the two year old girl shamelee to act so well as a mentally retarded kid.The siblings of anjali,played by tarun and shruthi,adds to the brilliance of mani sir.I loved this movie personally,as it made me upset for the whole day after watching it!!The songs,once more were brilliantly pictured,my personal favorite is the song shot on "anjali" which showed mani ratnam's greatness.I would definitely recommend this movie to you.You will love this.

This is an unashamedly populist film. As a result, it's got the occasional cringe-worthy cheesy sequence (and I'm thinking the Science Fiction / Star Wars pastiche here), and it doesn't really grapple with the reality of bringing up a disabled kid.

However, it has some excellent and very funny scenes, and it does deal brilliantly with social attitudes to disability. It features the full masala quotient, with fights, singing, dancing, bad jokes and pyaar-ishq-mohabbat. It also made me cry like a baby.

In conclusion, an utterly excellent film, although not without flaws (as Mani Ratnam himself admits), which features stunning and thoroughly convincing performances. Should be seen by everybody.

It seems odd and serves as a good case study when seeing how kids spent their days in the 90s. The story slowly picks up one event after another with frequent songs and terrific dance choreography. The house setup seems odd, with lack of background materials but it works for the mood of the film.

The film making and acting by kids look genuine and flawless. The screenplay takes off in the second half, with people maintaining distance from the estranged kid and conciling with her. Revathi is brilliant and forms the crux of the story. The emotional longing for acceptance is the driving point of this beautiful kids film.

This film totally deserves a full page in film making dictionary. Epic work by mani sir & all actors. We shouldn't mention shamili{Anjali}, tarun{brother}, sruti{sister} and all children as child actors & artists because they are supremely talented as if they worked in industry from ages. A MUST WATCH MASTERPIECE OF INDIAN CINEMA from SOUTH. In every category this film teaches a lesson. cinematography,editing,lighting,story,direction,screenplay etc.,.....EVERY ASPECT is a lesson for film making aspirants.

MUSIC ! no need of any explanation. just one name ILAIYARAAJA . This film is his 500th film.

Good Movie. Everybody acted very well in the movie. Songs and BGM in the movie were so good. The kids in the movie acted very well. The movie somewhat lagged and bored a bit at 2nd half. This movie is one of the Best Movie of Mani Ratnam. Good Movie.

I'm not a person who cries during films. The only films which made me cry is moondram pirai(Tamil,1983) and Coco(English,2017). Now I can add Anjali on to the list. Its soft and strong at the same time. I don't know how maniratnam handled all the kids(and also made them act so naturally) in the films. You could watch it on a happy day and neutralize your day to that of a man having balanced moods and still have a good takeaway!

The film has already critically acclaimed very well..just watched once again in TV...still it gives a strange felling in my throat pulp...unable to speak after the film ends since it completely over whelming by the climax scene especially...nothing to say much about this film...who so ever reads the review go and watch the film,it's better to say experience the feelings rather to say watch the film

I still remember how much I cried when I watched this movie. I must have been 7 or 8 years old but still I could understand this movie thanks to hindi dubbed otherwise couldn't read subtitles back then. Now I am 25 and it's like 20 years I haven't seen this movie but I can still recollect that stormy night, son thinking his father is cheating than Anjali, families bond with eachother and the sad ending. This must be the first South Indian movie I had ever watched and the first movie that made me cry. The impact was so high I still remember it. Maybe, someday I will watch it again but right now little busy. Will watch someday in peace.

This Movie Is Ratnam Sir most Underrated This Movie is special For every 90s kids performance by kid is terrific her silence her smile everything is perfect.

Anjali (1990) : Brief Review -

An underrated gem by Mani Ratnam. If you have heart and emotions in it, i dare you watch Anjali without dropping tears. First, i am very glad that this gem of a film came in my watchlist by chance. Second, i feel pity for those movie buffs who have rated this film less than other Mani Ratnam classics. And especially those duffers who compare it with Hollywood Classic 'To Kill A Mockingbird' just because one or two neighborhood sequence are similar. What about the rest of story? Did those dumb-heads really watch both the film or just making statements without any knowledge? Anjali is mainly about the mentally disabled child and the emotional trauma around her. Did 'To Kill a Mockingbird' had anything like that? Or did 'Anjali' have any court hearing scenes? Then who are those low IQ people who even thought of comparing these two films? Just shoot them dead man. Anyways, i would like to recommend this film to every movie buff whoever loves cinema and understand the social sense of it. In simple words, films like this are important to society and our lives which is not in the case of most of those crime classics of Mani Ratnam. So, if you are among those audience who cares about content more than big stars and heroic images then Anjali is a Must See for you. Anjali is a heartbreaking film with extremely emotional climax. Making a film with child artists is difficult but look at the way they have performed. That little girl in the last 5 minutes has done an unbelievable job, i was shocked to see such a great act by her at this age. Even Revathi, Raghuvaran and other child actors have done wonderful job. I would like to thank Mani Ratnam sir from the bottom of my heart for making this heart melting Cult Film which i will remember for long time. In short, an underrated gem that deserves more praise than other star oriented classics.

RATING - 8.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

My kid while watchinh kept on complaining why there is no light. He complained too that he can hardly see anything especially people faces. Not much dialogues atleast the scenes are shot in bright light. There are many mentally challenged kids who are doing good . What is the need to give a sad climax. Somehow not so feel good movie.

I saw this movie when it was released and when I was a kid. I was leaving disgusted seeing the movie. To this date, I cannot understand why a director of the great Mani Ratnam's caliber would stoop to storytelling revolving around a "mentally challenged" little girl. Makes no sense. The great redeeming feature of the movie is Ilaiyaraaja's music. Wonder what he thought about the movie making and if his music had been a success or in vain.

Yours truly.

I think Mani ratnam tried to show the emotional trauma of a dying mentally disable child but it does fails to connect with us the entire sequence of prabhu playing as dennis joseph is lifted from core concept of "to kill a mocking bird" a black and white english movie which was released in 1962.

The songs were awful i didnt like any of them sang by the children and the placements of songs were irrelevant worst film of mani ratnam in my opinion even the lighting and cinematography is very bad as you can see only the faces of children in dark scenes the scenes were not engaging and it lacked a good screenplay.