Shamlee

Indian actress (born 1987)

Shamlee

Born|

Shamlee

(1987-07-10) 10 July 1987 (age 37)

Tiruvalla, Kerala, India

Other names| Baby shamlee
Occupation| Actress
Years active| 1989—2000
(child artist),
2009, 2016-2018 (Actress)
Parent(s)| Babu,
Alice
Relatives|

* Shalini (sister)
* Richard Rishi (brother)
* Ajith Kumar (brother-in-law)

Awards| National Film Award for Best Child Artist
Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Child Artist
Karnataka State Film Award for Best Child Artist

Shamlee (born 10 July 1987[1]), is an Indian former actress who has worked in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam films. Her roles include the mentally challenged child Anjali in the 1990 film Anjali, for which she won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist, and a child trapped inside a bore-well in the film Malootty, which won her a Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist. She has also won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Female Child Actor for her performance in her Kannada debut Mathe Haditu Kogile.

## Early life

[edit]

Shamlee is from a family of actors, being the younger sister to actor Richard Rishi and actress Shalini. She was born to Babu and Alice. Her father migrated to Madras with an ambition of becoming an actor and the family settled there. Later he fulfilled his ambition through his children.[2]

## Career

[edit]

Shamlee started acting at the age of two in Tamil Cinema with the Vijaykanth starrer Rajanadai. In 1990, she acted in Bharathan's Malootty, a film based on Jessica McClure. Her performance won her critical appreciation and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist.[3] Her breakthrough came with Mani Ratnam's Anjali, in which she portrayed a mentally challenged child, which earned her widespread critical acclaim across South India and the National Film Award for Best Child Artist.[4][5] At that time, Shamlee was regarded as one of the youngest income tax assessees ever.[6] After Anjali, Shamlee became inarguably the most sought out child artist in South Indian cinema and, thus in subsequent years, acted in many roles in all four South Indian languages.[7]

In 2009, she played her first female lead role in Anand Ranga's directorial debut Oye! (2009) alongside Siddarth with her performance receiving a mixed response.[8][9] Between 2010 and 2015, Shamili studied and worked in Singapore and later returned to Chennai to work on the production of Veera Shivaji alongside Vikram Prabhu in 2016, which was panned by critics. Her performance also received negative reviews with indiaglitz claiming “Shamlee gets a forgettable debut as a heroine in Tamil. Her lip sync is poor and the scenes involving her do no help her either”.[10] and sify also stating she is “as stiff as a wax statue with barely any emotion”.[11] Shamili also acted in the Malayalam film Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti the same year, which was also panned and received negative reviews.[12]

## Filmography

[edit]

### As child artist

[edit]

Year | Movie | Role | Language | Notes

|
|
|
|

1989 | Rajanadai | Shamili "Shamu" | Tamil |
1990  | Magadu | Baby | Telugu | Tamil dubbed as Meesaikaran
Anjali | Anjali | Tamil | Won - National Film Award for Best Child Artist
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Child Artist
Malootty | Malootty | Malayalam | Won - Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist
Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari | Bujji | Telugu |
Mathe Haditu Kogile | Pallavi | Kannada | Won - Karnataka State Film Award for Best Child Artist
Durga | Durga,Mallika | Tamil
1991 | Thai Poosam | Velayutham |
Sendhoora Devi | Sindhu,
Nandu |
Pookkalam Varavayi | Geethu | Malayalam |
Anbu Sangili | Geethu | Tamil |
Keechu Raallu | Jyoti | Telugu |
Bhairavi |  | Kannada |
Kilukkampetti | Chikkumol | Malayalam |
Shwetaagni |  | Kannada |
Vaasalile Oru Vennila | Ammu | Tamil |
1992 | Police Lockup |  | Kannada |
Killer | Sneha | Telugu |
Sivasankari |  | Tamil |
Devar Veettu Ponnu | Sangari,
Savithri |
Naga Bala |  | Telugu |
Nani |  |
Parvathalu Panakalu | Mahalakshmi |
Sukravaram Mahalakshmi |  |
1993 | Joker | Apple |
Kadambari |  | Kannada |
Chinna Kannamma | Saranya | Tamil |
Sambhavi |  | Kannada |
Nippu Ravva | Engineer's daughter | Telugu | Hindi dubbed in Mawali Raj
Thanga Pappa | Abhirami | Tamil |
Dakshayini |  | Kannada |
Hoovu Hannu | Triveni |
Sivarathiri |  | Tamil |
1994 | Makkala Sakshi |  | Kannada |
Chinna Nee Naguthiru |  |
Bhuvaneshwari |  |
Anga Rakshakudu |  | Telugu |
Doragariki Donga Pellam | Baby Vani |
1995 | Nirnayam | Parukkutty | Malayalam |
Karulina Kudi |  | Kannada |
1996 | Sabse Bada Mawali |  | Hindi | (Hindi debut and only film to date)
Lalanam | Ammu | Malayalam |
1998 | Harikrishnans | Ammalu |
Jagadeeshwari | Jagadeeshwari | Kannada |
Thaayin Manikodi | Rosie | Tamil |
2000 | Kandukondain Kandukondain | Kamala |

### As lead actress

[edit]

Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

2009 | Oye! | Sandhya Jagarlamudi | Telugu |  | [13]
2016 | Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti | Sreedevi | Malayalam |  | [14]
Veera Sivaji | Anjali | Tamil |  | [15]
2018 | Ammammagarillu | Sita | Telugu |  | [16]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "ശ്യാമിലിയുടെ പിറന്നാൾ ആഘോഷിച്ച് ശാലിനിയും സഹോദരനും". Manorama Online (in Malayalam).
2. ^ "ശാലിനിയുടെ കഥ, ശ്യാംലിയുടേയും...!". Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
3. ^ "Kerala State Film Awards" Archived 19 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ "Chinnathambi bags six awards". The Indian Express. 30 October 1992. p. 3.
5. ^ "38th National Film Festival" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 1991. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
6. ^ "Four-year-old child star Shamili is the youngest income tax assessee ever". India Today. 31 August 1991. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
7. ^ "Shalini's Sister Shamili Reminsces Her Anjali Days; Says She Was 'Too Young'! – JFW Just for women". Retrieved 7 May 2022.
8. ^ "Baby Shamili debuts opposite Siddharth". IndiaGlitz. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
9. ^ "Shamili debuts as heroine". IndiaGlitz.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
10. ^ "Veera Sivaji review. Veera Sivaji Tamil movie review, story, rating". IndiaGlitz. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
11. ^ "Veera Sivaji review:Tedious watch". Sify. Archived from the original on 16 December 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
12. ^ "Flop Malayalam movies of 2016 that totally deserved it". topmovierankings.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
13. ^ "Shamili debuts as heroine". IndiaGlitz.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
14. ^ "Kunchacko, Shamili romances through vibrant visuals". The Times of India.
15. ^ "Child star Shamlee from Anjali takes the plunge". The Hindu. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
16. ^ "Hindi version of Naga Shaurya and Shamili's 'Ammammagarillu' trends at #2". The Times of India. 27 February 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Shamlee at IMDb

Awards

National Film Award
Preceded by

Mrin Moyee Chandrakar
for Kalat Nakalat

|  Best Child Artist
for Anjali
(shared with Tarun and Shruthi)
1990  | Succeeded by

Santhosh Reddy
for Bhadram Koduko
*[Ref.]: Reference