Anjali is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language children's drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam.

The film deals with the story of a dying mentally disabled child, and the emotional trauma experienced by her family.

Civil engineer Shekhar lives with his wife Chitra and their two young children Arjun and Anu.

The family seems to have moved on from their grief due to the stillborn child incident and live happily.

One such constant joke, they play on a mentally disabled ex-watchman of the colony, much to the chagrin of his wife.

On one particular day, Chitra and the kids decide to surprise Shekhar by meeting him at his construction area, unannounced.

Nevertheless, on coming to the site, they learn from one of the construction workers that Shekhar has left to conduct an emergency matter elsewhere.

On New Year's Eve, Arjun slips out late at night with the older children to celebrate while Shekhar is out of town on a business trip.

Without waiting for his explanations, she rushes back home, packs her bags and threatens to walk out of the house with her kids.

To hide the sadness for a couple of months from an already physically exhausted Chitra and to protect his children from the trauma, he colludes with the doctors to lie to his family that the child was stillborn.

One day, the other kids in the colony make fun of Anjali by tying a string of cans behind her.

Arjun becomes protective of her and challenges the other kids in the colony to a fight if they can't accept her.

When Anjali doesn't wake up despite Anu’s constant shouts, she calls Arjun and her parents, who realize that she has died in her sleep.

As more and more people come after hearing Anu's screams, they all are saddened by the demise of the girl who taught them acceptance and forgiveness.

[7] Anjali was also Ratnam's first film since Mouna Ragam (1986) without P. C. Sreeram as cinematographer, for which he used Madhu Ambat instead.

[1] Mohan was originally considered for playing the male lead, but he refused due to creative differences with the director.

Shamili's father put in a lot of effort, and he would make her watch every day to observe the actions of the child.