Best known for her performance in the 2000 movie Alaipayuthey, Shalini Kumar made her acting debut at the age of 3 with the Malayalam film Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku. She was credited as Baby Shalini for her appearances in movies as a child artist. She later went on to feature in several highly successful films like Bhagwan Parshuram (1970), Kaliyoonjal (1996), Kadhalukku Mariyadhai (1997), Kadhalukku Mariyadhai (1997), Niram (1999), Amarkalam (1999), Kannukkul Nilavu (2000) and Alaipayuthey (2000) being her most prominent ones. She last featured in the 2001 movie Piriyadha Varam Vendum opposite actor Prashanth, which received positive reviews. Shalini married Ajith Kumar, one of Kollywood`s leading actors in 2000, and has retired from acting since then.