Set in the 1980s, Anna’s story follows the life of Maadeva, an eight-year-old child whose poor parents can’t afford to feed him rice. His birthplace, Hanur, doesn’t have enough water to grow rice, but it’s a great place to grow ragi, black-eyed peas, and other millets and pulses.

Meanwhile, Maadeva gets separated from his parents at the Mahadeshwara Temple Jaatra and finds refuge in the house of the local Zamindar of Bannur, where the lands are ideally suited for the growing of rice.

In his innocence, Maadeva asks rhetorically if this family is celebrating something because they eat rice at all three meals.

The disappearance of their 8-year-old child some years ago is the only source of anguish in the otherwise prosperous Zamindar family. When the Zamindar’s wife finds out that Maadeva is taking the place of her missing son, she lets go of the social norms.

The villagers join the exhaustive search for Maadeva, and it’s only after Maadeva’s discovery that his birth mother finds some relief. The movie’s climax depends on whether or not Maadeva’s parents are able to get custody of their son back.

Anna shows how vulnerable a child is as he faces the harsh reality of poverty and the problems that people in rural India at that time had to deal with. In addition, the film celebrates the universality of motherhood and the ways in which it cuts across cultural boundaries and honors farmers for their contributions to society.