Reviews & Ratings for
Anjali More at IMDbPro »

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Watch it for Ratnam's unique way of storytelling, 4 March 2008

Author: meenal-an from India

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 I should say that Mani 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, you would 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.

7 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Cheesy, funny and tragic, 9 November 2004

Author: Jez Humble from London, UK

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.

7 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Poetically Retarded., 25 June 2002

Author: Prabhakar S (prabashalini@yahoo.com) from Chennai, India.

Its a film about kids and within them a mentally retarded kid. And it is Mani's version. If you like kids then you would like this movie. There were talks about the weak script. May be. And the finest part is the mentally retarded kid Shamili. Showing a really tough and pathetic life of a mentally retarded kid would be a realistic movie. But it needs lot of stress to reach common cinema going audience. Mani did it with his touch of perfection and poetic sense and a bit of reality. Out of all other E.T. stuff the thing that strikes the viewer is 'Shamili', the mentally retarded kid. I wonder how could he made shamili, then a small kid (just 3 yrs old), to act like a mentally retarded kid. And another maestro (who made me a fanatic about the songs of this movie when it was released) played his perfect role apt for this movie, is Ilayaraja. It came in 1990, the year dedicated for mentally retarded children. Good movie. You will enjoy it I bet.

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Simply brilliant!, 26 September 2004
Author: navya_hermione from India

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.

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Illuminating and thought-provoking, 8 August 2008

Author: mohan59

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.

Excellent Reworking of ET, 11 May 2011

Author: vjmailservice from India

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.

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Fantastic Movie But ..., 17 July 2010

Author: Arunkumar Mohunraj from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

20 years ago when I was a kid watching this movie I cried and laughed and had goosebumps from scene to scene. I have always admired Manirathnam for his brilliance no matter what he does. Lately watching too many international movies have put him at my top list of directors to avoid. He cheats his fans by copying from Hollywood.

I just finished watching "To Kill a Mockingbird" 1962 movie with Gregory Peck as lead role. No matter what I said about that guy I always had a thought somewhere in the corner of my mind that "Anjali" movie is his original creation. The entire sequence of Prabhu in Anjali forms the core theme of "To Kill a Mockingbird"

How the kids are scared of a neighbor. How the kids run at night and knock on his door and run back. How the kids bet to go there at night. And finally how this guy is not as fearful as they have always imagined.

I still rate this movie at 4 because 20 years ago I did not know this and he had given be a great feeling then.

1 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Anjali is the most amazing movie i've ever saw, 3 December 2005

Author: harkiratsl from New Delhi

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Mani Ratnam is one of my favoriate director and he have created history as he made a two year child act a very difficult role of a character "anjali". Revathy have also performed very well as usual and even raghuvaran have performed well. Hat's off to Mani Ratnam. The story is of a mentally retarded girl who is brought back to the family and her brother and sister doesn't accept her and tries to disturb her . But in the end they accept her. It contains very much sad scenes which makes the audiences sometimes cry like anything and the audience love to see this film i can bet on it that's why it was sent by the India to the Oscars. And Ratnam again created history. Mani ratnam will again make this kind of tragic films which touches some hearts.

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