Charmila has had a long and eventful journey in South Indian cinema. Although she is Tamil by birth, it was Malayalam cinema that brought her widespread recognition.
Career
After beginning her career as a child artiste in the Sivaji Ganesan-starrer Nallathoru Kudumbam (1979), she went on to make her debut as a lead actor with the Tamil film Oyilattam (1991).
Her entry into Malayalam cinema proved to be a turning point. In 1991, Charmila appeared opposite Mohanlal in Sibi Malayil’s Dhanam and Bhadran’s Uncle Bun. She also played the female lead alongside Jayaram in Bharathan’s Keli the same year. Her performances in these films helped establish her among Malayalam cinema audiences.
Charmila subsequently continued working across Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. However, while her professional career was progressing, her personal life went through several difficult phases.
She has previously spoken openly about her relationships and marriages, once describing romance as something that had adversely affected her life.
Charmila’s Relationship With Babu Antony
Charmila met actor Babu Antony while working on Kadal (1994), in which he also had a key role. The two later shared screen space in films including Rajadhani and Kambolam. They collaborated on six films in total and, according to Charmila, eventually developed feelings for each other.
Speaking about the relationship, Charmila said that Babu Antony eventually left for the US and did not return. She also said that she did not consider him a bad person and recalled how deeply the relationship affected her.
She said, “Babu went to the US once and never returned. I think his brother was the reason for that. I still don’t think Babu’s a bad person. He was my first love; I was 19 then. But when that didn’t happen, I attempted suicide by slitting my wrist. However, my mother saved me.”
Charmila also recalled several incidents from the period when they were growing close.
Charmila Details Her Closeness With Babu
In an interview with Onmanorama, she spoke about an incident during a shoot at Kuttikanam, when the geyser in her room stopped working.
“Babu filled hot water in a bucket in his room and carried it to mine. But my father was enraged upon seeing this, and he struck the bucket down.”
She further recalled another incident when Babu offered to drop her and others in his car after noticing that the weather was worsening. According to Charmila, her father did not allow her to travel with him in the same car.
“Later, we were shooting at some interior location, and the sky was getting cloudy. When Babu saw that my car was getting late, he offered to drop us in his car. But my father didn’t allow me to go with him in the same car. Then Babu got down from his car and asked us to get in it. All this drew me close to Babu Antony. I was touched that he was suffering all this for my sake,” revealed Charmila.
On Father’s Strict Approach
Charmila said her father’s strict approach ultimately contributed to her relationship with Babu Antony.
She said, “Had my father tried to explain things with love, I wouldn’t have ended up in that relationship. Instead, he tried to protect me. As a daughter, I am a total failure. I wouldn’t have had this fate if I had said ‘yes’ to the marriage alliance that was brought by my father.”
However, Babu Antony has denied being romantically involved with a fellow actor.
During an episode of JB Junction, he said, “I wanted to be a chronic bachelor, but I fell in love with a college girl, not an actress. Many women had claimed that they were in love with me, and I have no idea about any actress’ allegations regarding her relationship with me.”
Screenwriter Kaloor Dennis also wrote about Charmila’s relationship in Grihalakshmi.
Recalling the period surrounding Kambolam, he wrote, “It was during Kambolam that divine romance first blossomed in Charmila. I understood its paths very well. When I felt that this direction was dangerous, I donned the mantle of a great advisor, but love was embracing Charmila strongly. As a result, she started avoiding me whenever she saw me. As years passed, Charmila’s romance failed. With that, she fell into a terrible mental state.”
Charmila’s First Marriage Ended After Four Years
Following her separation from Babu Antony, Charmila became close to Kishor Satya, who was working as an assistant director in the film industry at the time. The two eventually got married. Charmila has said that she was going through a difficult phase when their relationship developed.
She said, “I was going through a phase of depression, and Kishor would talk to me lovingly. Soon we became close to each other.”
Charmila was receiving several acting opportunities around the time of their marriage. However, she said Kishor asked her to stop working in films after their wedding.
She recalled turning down an opportunity to star opposite Vikram in Sethu (1999), believing that her husband would not approve of her doing the film.
“We got married while I was getting lots of acting opportunities in the movies. Kishor asked me to quit movies post-wedding. In the meantime, he went to Sharjah. I rejected the offer to act in the movie Sethu (1999) opposite Vikram, thinking that Kishor wouldn’t like it. For four years, he lived there and I here. Later, I met him in Dubai when I went there for a show. He then told me that he wasn’t interested in continuing our relationship,” Charmila recalled.
She said their marriage had been kept private and was attended only by family members. The couple eventually opted for a mutual divorce.
“He wanted to keep our wedding a secret. It was a registered marriage attended by just our family members, and we got a mutual divorce after realising that Kishor married me only due to my popularity and was not interested in me,” she said.
Charmila’s Second Marriage
Charmila later married Rajesh, a software engineer who was a friend of her sister. He was eight years younger than the actor. Their marriage also eventually ended in divorce.
“I am a Christian, and Rajesh wanted me to convert to Hinduism for our son. But I wanted my son to follow Christianity, as he was born only after many prayers. Legally, we are divorced now, but still in touch with him. During the court proceedings, my son said he wanted to be with me, and Rajesh often visits to meet our son,” she added.
Looking back at her personal life, Charmila admitted that she repeatedly entered romantic relationships despite her previous experiences.
“I had romantic relationships at all stages of my life. I failed to learn lessons from my experiences,” she said.
On The Malayalam Film Industry
Charmila also spoke about her experiences in the Malayalam film industry following the release of the Justice Hema Committee report in 2024.
She claimed that she had faced inappropriate behaviour from several people in the industry and alleged that 28 people had behaved inappropriately with her.
“A producer tried to molest [me] along with his friends,” Charmila alleged, referring to MP Mohanan, one of the co-producers of Arjunan Pillayum Anchu Makkalum.
She also alleged that director Hariharan had asked whether she would “cooperate” and claimed that the conversation was relayed to actor Vishnu.
“Director Hariharan asked if I would ‘cooperate’ (yield). He asked this to actor Vishnu. After saying that I was not ready for it, both Vishnu and I were removed from the movie,” she told Asianet News.
Charmila is no longer as active in films as she was during the peak of her career, although she continues to make occasional appearances.
She has also been part of several television shows over the years.
