Shalini Ajith
Biography
Shalini Ajith (born 20 November 1979), formerly known as Baby Shalini, is an Indian former actress and child artist who predominantly worked in Malayalam and Tamil films. During the 80s, Shalini was the most successful child artist in both Malayalam and Tamil film industry and also in Telugu films.
After a brief hiatus from acting, Shalini made a comeback in 1997 through Malayalam and Tamil language films as a lead heroine. She married popular Tamil actor Ajith Kumar, on April 24, 2000, and retired from films after her wedding.
Shalini soon went to study, and she returned to acting with Aniyathipravu, which was a blockbuster. In her next film Kaliyoonjal (1997), she co-starred with Mammootty and Dileep and it was released to mixed reviews.
After the success of the Malayalam Aniyathipravu, Fazil remade it in Tamil as Kadhalukku Mariyadhai (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, Kadhalukku Mariyadhai 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 (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, 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.
