She won the prestigious Rising Star award as Best Actress at the Toronto Film Festival 2021 and yet awaits recognition and stellar roles offered by Kollywood!

Semmalar Annam, a small-town girl who dared to dream big, says she never had an alternate career in mind from the word go. In what started as college projects of short film making while she was studying Mass Communications at PSG College in Coimbatore, Semmalar has not only authored scripts and acted in her films but also directed them, many of which won her numerous international awards.

“Dance and acting have always been my passions but when I started working on short films, I intended to become a director. My penchant for acting got a thrust when we started staging Eco Club awareness street theatre acts,” avers Semmalar.

Her films also stood out for their bold themes. She was raised to believe in freedom of expression by her parents and hence never felt the need to hesitate addressing hard core issues, she says. Her first short film ‘Malarmathi’ was about sexual abuse by relatives of an orphan which won her the Best Film and Best Director award at Legend 2010, a short Film Festival organised by Satyabhama University.

‘Konangal’, her yet another directorial short film dealt with widow remarriage. It won the best film award at the Suariyadhai Panbattu Kalagam. When asked about the relevance of the theme in the days when ‘live-in’ relationships are the new normal, she says that while widow remarriage found acceptance in her grandparent’s era, it was viewed as quite a stigma in her mother’s generation though the present generation sees no odds about it. It is this evolution that she depicted in the film.

Recalling her short film titled ‘Madhu’ that she made for the finale task when she participated in the reality show called Sakalakala Vallavan on Kaliagnar TV, she says she based it on a real-life incident of the rape and murder of an eight-year-old in her town that deeply gashed her. She went on to win the title of the reality show.

Soon after that, where she met the film technician Vinesh Arasu, they were married and began working in Podugai to meet the day-to-day needs. Her mentor filmmaker Arulmani Shivaprakasam initiated to enrol her in an acting course and her creative talents began to find a direction. She was signed for her first film, ‘Ammani’ to play the character of a frustrated daughter in law and a government servant which brought her acclaim. This film triggered a string of other assignments though Semmalar is yet to get a major break in the mainstream commercial cinema. Realistic artsy cinema has become her staple forte which she partially attributes to the colour of her skin.

Dark skin is native to this region but still, it is quite not fancied to be cast as main lead in commercial cinema. Sadly, an explosive talent like that of Semmalar stays confined to Art movies.

Film, ‘Maadathy’, a blazing poignant tale of terror, again a theme based of Dalit community in which the actress plays the role of a mother of the protagonist, was screened at numerous International Film Festivals including the Korean Busan International festival. It is also released in Nee Stream, on OTT platform.

This natural actress has however been creating new milestones for herself, film after film. She directed another film titled ‘Mudal Mazhai’, ‘The first Rain,’ based on a true story about how a girl attempt masturbating and goes on a guilt trip and how she overcomes it by confessing to her hostel roommate. The ‘First Rain’ went on to fetch her special mention at the Belgium short film Festival, Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Shades International Short Film Festival, The Lift-Off Sessions, Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, Nepal America International Film Festival, DC South Asian Film Festival, Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival and South Asian Film Festival of Montréal.

This was followed by her stellar performance in ‘Sennai’ directed by Jaikumar Sethuraman fetching her the Best Actress award at the Port Blair International Film Festival and Best Actress trophy at the Tagore International Film Festival. The crowning glory, however, was Semmalar bagging the prestigious Rising Star Emerging Actress Award at the Toronto Tamil International Film Festival, 2021.

“It’s the story of a woman from the ‘Vettiyan’ community, where I play the character of a wife who takes over the job of burning the corpse from her husband. The hardships of her appalling life coupled with her ailment of suffering from Asthma and how she eventually dies living a despicable life. It’s a Dalit-issue movie and I have won about 10 awards for the film. The Toronto Rising Star is the 10th award, I guess,” she laughs.

As hard luck would have it, amidst a shower of accolades, the actress had to give it a miss to walk the red carpet at these prestigious International Festivals where she was being conferred with awards for her meritorious works due to the Covid-19 Pandemic travel restrictions.

Semmalar, however, keeps herself focused and grabs any opportunity that offers her a platform to showcase her histrionics, irrespective of the length of the role.

“I am alternately working in both the commercial and independent movies whereever it gives me a scope for acting. Almost 10 projects are awaiting release,” says she.

In the more recent venture, Semmalar plays the lead with Vijayan in the film titled ‘Mmmmm’, directed by Vijeesh Mani. This film has already made its way into the regional film entry that qualifies for competition-eligibility-list at the Oscar screening this year. It’s made in Kurumba Tribal lingo on honey bees. As its title suggests the buzz of a bee, the film revolves around honey bee hunters from the Kurumba tribe.

“With the decline in bee population, the film deals with the impact of fewer beehives making on the livelihood of the tribe. Kurumba language is a mix of Tamizh, Malayalam and Kannada. Since we shot where the community lives, I was able to adapt to the tone of the language,” says she.

“I am happy that when there is a need for realistic performance, film makers approach me. Even in the mainstream cinema I get performanceoriented roles that add value to the script. But I feel my skin tone relegates me to roles of a poor woman. That’s my concern. Maybe I could be tried in regular characters as well,” says Semmalar in a rueful tang

She makes a charming appearance as a flower vendor in the latest commercial ad on Paytm and one can say, this powerful, bold and beautiful actress-of-substance is here to stay!