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.

Shamlee
Born
Shamlee

(1987-07-10) 10 July 1987 (age 37)
Other namesBaby shamlee
OccupationActress
Years active1989—2000
(child artist),
2009, 2016-2018 (Actress)
Parent(s)Babu,
Alice
Relatives
AwardsKerala State Film Award for Best Child Actress National Film Award for Best Child Actress

Early life

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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

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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

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As child artist

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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

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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

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  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.
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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