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

Tamil films Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Chenn ...

. 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 music by M. G. Sreekumar, cinematography by Tirru, editing by Arun Kumar, and ar ...

'', '' Mayilu'' and ''

Dasavathaaram ''Dasavathaaram'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language epic science fiction action film directed by K. S. Ravikumar, written by Kamal Haasan and produced by V. Ravichandran under Aascar Film Pvt. Ltd. It stars Kamal Haasan in ten distinct rol ...

''.

Background

Shammu was born Sheerin Sharmilee in

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

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

to a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Hindu family that hails from

Neyveli Neyveli is an industrial town in the Cuddalore district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. 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 Ney ...

. 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 and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

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

Career

Shammu appeared in the 2008, Tamil film, ''

'' 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 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, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, 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 Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English language, Engl ...

'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 Soman Nair (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He has worked primarily in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Hindi cinema, Hindi cinema since 1982, directing over 90 films in multiple Indian languages, ...

's daughter and was critically praised for her performance receiving the Filmfare Best Tamil Supporting Actress Award. In '' Mayilu'' she played a village girl and had to sport dark makeup, oily braid and dirty clothes, to resemble a typical girl from

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

- 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, though the film failed at the box office. Shammu was also seen in a cameo role in R. Kannan'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'', with Bharath and Tamannaah Bhatia reprising the roles of Shahid Kapoor and Kareena K ...

'', before appearing in two more critically acclaimed ventures which did not succeed at the box office, '' Maathi Yosi'' and ''Paalai''. She quit acting in 2011 and returned to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

to pursue a career in medicine at

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

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 1988 births