Sheerin Sharmilee Ramalingam, professionally known as Shammu is an Indian-born American actress who appeared in

Tamil films Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

. She is best known for films such as ''

Kanchivaram ''Kanchivaram'' is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language period drama film written and directed by Priyadarshan. The film stars Prakash Raj and Shriya Reddy and has the musical score by M. G. Sreekumar, cinematography by Tirru, editing by Arun Kumar, a ...

'', ''

Mayilu ''Mayilu'' is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language film directed by M. Jeevan and produced by actor Prakash Raj, starring Shri, Shammu and Vidharth. The film was in production since 2008 got released only on 26 October 2012. Plot The film revolves aro ...

'' and ''

Dasavathaaram ''Dasavathaaram'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It stars Kamal Haasan, who also wrote the script, in ten distinct roles. Asin appears in two roles and Mallika Sherawat plays a subs ...

''.

Background

Shammu was born Sheerin Sharmilee in

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital of ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

to a

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, nati ...

Hindu family that hails from

Neyveli Neyveli is a industrial town in the Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located inland from the Bay of Bengal, west of Pondicherry and south of Chennai. The town was developed in 1956 after the establishment of Neyve ...

. Her family moved to the US and her father, Rajaram Ramalingam, worked as a computer consultant whilst her mother is a housewife. She had been studying at Cypress Creek High School in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, but quit school to appear in films. Despite starting a film career, Shammu finished her high school courses through online classes. Her younger sister has appeared in ''

'', as the younger version of Shammu's character.

Career

Shammu appeared in ''

'' after receiving a call from the crew for the film, whilst they were searching for an Indian actress to play a short role. They had come to know of her following her

Bharathanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

performances, which were well acclaimed in the area. Her role was, that of a scientist, who panicked after seeing the bio weapon being exposed for the first time. Soon afterwards, whilst on holiday in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Shammu attended an audition for

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

's home production ''Mayilu'', and when she succeeded, Prakash Raj also suggested her name for another project that he was working in. She subsequently appeared in ''

'', directed by

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in Hi ...

's daughter and was critically praised for her performance receiving the Filmfare Best Tamil Supporting Actress Award. In ''

'' she played a village girl and had to sport dark makeup, oily braid and dirty clothes, to resemble a typical girl from

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

- however the film was delayed and had only limited release in 2012 and went unnoticed. She next appeared in '' Malayan'', she plays the role of a bubbly girl from Madurai with a different shade alongside actor,

Karan Karan may refer to: People * Karan (given name), an Indian given name * Karan (caste), an Indian caste * Karan Kayastha, a community of Kayastha in Bihar, India * Karan (surname) Places * Karan, Iran (disambiguation), a name for various vi ...

, though the film failed at the box office. Shammu was also seen in a cameo role in

R. Kannan R. Kannan (born Rajmohan on 21 July 1971) is an Indian filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with the successful Tamil film ''Jayamkondaan'' starring Vinay Rai and Bhavana in 2008. Career Kannan started his career assisting director Manoba ...

's ''

Kanden Kadhalai ''Kanden Kadhalai'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by R. Kannan. The film, a remake of the 2007 Hindi film ''Jab We Met'', stars Bharath and Tamannaah. The film was released on 30 October 2009. This film was succ ...

'', before appearing in two more critically acclaimed ventures which did not succeed at the box office, ''

Maathi Yosi ''Maathi Yosi'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Nandha Periyasamy and music by Guru Kalyan. Starring Harish, ''Kanchivaram'' fame Shammu along with newcomers Gopal, Alex and Lokesh in the lead roles, the fi ...

'' and ''Paalai''. She quit acting in 2011 and returned to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

to pursue a career in medicine at

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shammu Living people People from Bikaner People from Cuddalore district Actresses from Tamil Nadu Indian emigrants to the United States Actresses from Orlando, Florida American film actresses American people of Indian Tamil descent American actresses of Indian descent Tamil actresses American expatriate actresses in India Actresses in Tamil cinema Filmfare Awards South winners 21st-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)