Shalini (born 20 November 1979), also known as Baby Shalini, is a former Indian child artist and actress who predominantly worked in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

films. During the 80s, Shalini was the most successful child artist in the Malayalam film industry. After taking a brief hiatus from child acting, Shalini made a come back in 1997 through

and

Language films as lead heroine roles. She married popular Tamil actor

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil films. To date, he has starred in over 60 films. His awards include four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Tami ...

, on April 24, 2000 and retired from films after her marriage.

Early life

Shalini was born in a Protestant Malayali Christian family to Babu and Alice on 20 November 1979. Her father is from

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city ...

. Her father migrated to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

with an ambition of becoming an actor and the family settled there. Later, he fulfilled his ambition through his children. Shalini attended Fatima Matriculation Higher Secondary School (K.G to 8th), Adarsh Vidyalaya, Chennai (9th to 10th) and Church Park, Chennai (11th and 12th). She completed college at Annamalai University. She is the middle child. Her younger sister

Shamili Shamlee, also known as Baby Shamili/Shamlee, (born 10 July 1987), is an Indian 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 ...

and her elder brother

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

are also actors in the film industry. Shalini has stated that she enjoys

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

and has played in a few state-level tournaments., The Hindu, 10 October 2006.

Career

Shalini started her career as a child artist in ''

Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku ''Ente Mamattukkuttiyammakku'' (; also known as ''Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku'') is a 1983 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film produced by Navodaya Appachan under Navodaya Studio. It was written and directed by Fazil and stars Bharat Go ...

'' and she acted in all the films under the direction of Fazil. She also played the lead character in the TV serial ''Amloo'' telecast in the late 1980s on Doordarshan. Her iconic hairstyle, a short bob with a front fringe, was popularly known as the “Baby Shalini hair cut”. Shalini soon went to study, and she returned to acting with ''

Aniyathipravu ''Aniyathipraavu'' () is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language romance film directed by Fazil and produced by Swargachitra Appachan. It stars debutant Kunchacko Boban and Shalini (thereby, making their cinematic debut in leading roles). The film tell ...

'', which was a blockbuster. In her next film ''

Kaliyoonjal Kaliyoonjalu is a 1997 Malayalam drama, film starring Mammootty, Shalini, Shobana and Dileep. It was directed by Anil Babu and produced by Siyad Koker under the banner of Koker Films and was a commercial success. The film completed 50 days in My ...

'' (1997), she co-starred with

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, H ...

and

Dileep Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...

and it released to mixed reviews. After the success of the Malayalam ''

'', Fazil remade it in Tamil as ''

Kadhalukku Mariyadhai ''Kadhalukku Mariyadhai'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic drama film directed by Fazil. It is the Tamil remake of Fazil's own Malayalam film ''Aniyathipraavu'' (1997). The film stars Vijay and Shalini (reprising her rol ...

'' (1997). Initially, Fazil was keen on casting a débutante in the lead female role, but Shalini insisted that she should also star in the Tamil version. Like the Malayalam version, ''

'' was also a blockbuster, and Shalini’s performance was also praised with Indolink.com recommending the film and citing that "Shalini returns in this film with a good performance". For the movie ''

Amarkalam ''Amarkalam'' () () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film written and directed by Saran and produced by V. Sudhir Kumar. The film stars Ajith Kumar and Shalini, with Raghuvaran, Raadhika and Nassar in supporting roles. ''Amar ...

'' (1999), Saran initially approached Shalini, who was studying at the time and she refused, however, after a three-month pursuit, he finally got her to sign on as well. She was offered a role in ''

Padayappa ''Padayappa'' is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It stars Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth, Ramya Krishnan and Soundarya with Abbas, Lakshmi, Radha Ravi and Nassar playing supporting roles. The ...

'', which she rejected. The success of the film ''Kadhalukku Mariyadhai'' prompted Fazil to make another film with the lead pair, Vijay and Shalini, in 2000: ''

Kannukkul Nilavu ''Kannukkul Nilavu'' () is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Fazil. The film stars Vijay, Shalini and Kaveri, while Raghuvaran, Srividya and Ponvannan play other supporting roles. It was Vijay's 25th ...

''. Under

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six ...

’s direction, Shalini acted in''

Alaipayuthey ''Alai Payuthey'' ( ) is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written, co-produced and directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Madhavan (in his Tamil debut) and Shalini. The film explores the tensions of married life between two young p ...

'' (2000). She subsequently won the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize Recipients Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. * The year mentioned refers to the year in which the films released. This is the list of Winners of Jury's Special Award See also * Tamil cinema * Cinema of Indi ...

for her role in the film. In 2001, her last film ''

Piriyadha Varam Vendum ''Piriyadha Varam Vendum'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Kamal. It is a remake of his 1999 Malayalam film ''Niram''. The movie stars Prashanth with Shalini and Jomol (Both reprising their rol ...

'' was released, a remake of the Malayalam movie ''

Niram ''Niram'' () is a 1999 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film directed by Kamal and written inspired by Sathrughnan, a story by Iqbal Kuttippuram. ''Niram'' marks the fourth and final collaboration of the leading pair, Kunchacko & Shali ...

,'' also starring Shalini.

Personal life

In 1999, during the shoot of Saran's ''

'', Shalini began to date her co-star

. He proposed to Shalini in June 1999 (before their movie release in Aug. 1999) and, following consultations of both sides of the families, she accepted. They got married on 24 April 2000 at Chennai. After their marriage, Shalini retired as an actress following the completion of two unfinished projects. The couple have two children: a daughter born on 3 January 2008 and a son born on 2 March 2015.

Filmography

As a child artist

As a leading actress

Awards

Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist The Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist is an award, begun in 1969, presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India for the best performance by a child actor in the Malayalam cinema. Until 1997, the awards were managed dir ...

- '' Ente Mamattukkuttiyammakku'' (1983) * Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for Best Actress - ''

'' (2000)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shalini People from Thiruvalla Actresses in Tamil cinema Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Kerala State Film Award winners Indian Christians Indian film actresses Actresses from Kerala Living people Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema 1979 births Indian child actresses Child actresses in Malayalam cinema 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Women artists from Kerala Child actresses in Tamil cinema Child actresses in Telugu cinema Child actresses in Kannada cinema Child actresses in Hindi cinema