The first Mani Ratnam film to be dubbed into Hindi, thereby making the director known beyond festival circles, Anjali is the story of a middle-class family suddenly thrown off-kilter by the introduction of a new member: a three-year old named Anjali (Baby Shamili), an autistic child with a terminal disease, whom the father (Raghuvaran) had concealed from the rest of his family.

His wife (Revathy) who had assumed that her third child had died at birth, and two children (Tarun and Shalini) have to come to terms with this revelation, and at the same time prepare themselves to lose the little girl.

The highpoint in Anjali is undoubtedly provided by the child artistes. The story is mostly told from the point of view of Anjali's two siblings, and the kids in the housing colony where the family lives.