Early life and career
"I believe in living my characters. So, when I am constantly offered such [unconventional] roles, it tends to take a toll on my emotions. It’s very difficult for a happy-go-lucky person like me. It might have to do with my skin tone as well as dark-skinned people are stereotyped in such characters in the film industry. We are not offered roles of a doctor or lawyer. It’s appalling."
— Semmalar Annam on the roles she gets due to her dark skin, 2021
After her schooling at Krishnamal Higher Secondary School Coimbatore, she joined for B.Sc., Visual Communication studies at PSG College of Arts and Science and later did her post graduation in Mass Communication and Journalism from PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore. After her formal education, she underwent a course on acting and theater at the Stanislavsky Acting School, Chennai.
Semmalar's debut short film Malarmathi (2010), about a sexually abused orphan won the best film and best director award at Legend 2010, a state-level short film festival organized by Department of Visual Communication, Sathyabama University, Chennai.
In the film Ammani (2016), she plays the frustrated daughter-in-law of the main character: Salamma, a hard-working government hospital worker. Semmalar played major roles in several independent films such as Maadathy (2019), Sennai (2021), and the Malayalam film Mmmmm (2021) while she had minor roles in several major productions, with her roles in Valimai (2021) and Bachelor (2021) edited out from the final cuts. She played a dalit mother in Maadathy (2019). Regarding her performance, a critic wrote that "Semmarlar Annam in a yet another remarkable performance. How long will the mainstream filmmakers ignore her?" In Sennai, she played the lead role (again the character of a dalit) while she played a member of the honey hunter Kurumba tribe in Mmmmm. Regarding her performance in Thunikaram (2022), a critic wrote that "Though Semmalar Annam doesn't have much scope to perform, she does a decent job in the given time".
