Merlet Ann Thomas – The actress who got noticed with 2024 Malayalam thriller, Pani

Merlet Ann Thomas is an upcoming actress belonging to Malayalam film industry. She got noticed with 2024 action thriller, Pani, directed by Joju George. Her bold role as Sneha, Don Sebastian’s girlfriend got noticed after the success of the film. Before Pani, she made a brief appearance in Joju George starrer 2023 film, Antony and a few more. Merlet is also a dentist by profession.

Merlet had film dreams since childhood

Merlet hails from Adoor. She is the daughter of Thomas and Shiny. She has one younger sister, Merlin. She and her sister were brought up in Bahrain, where her father was doing business. Though she didn’t regularly visit theatres during childhood, she had dreams about joining film industry.

Since school days, young Merlet was active in singing, dancing and sports. But she never tried with drama, monoact etc. Stage fear was the reason. Though she started getting film offers, her parents wanted her to concentrate on studies and earn a job at that point of time.

Merlet Ann Thomas is also a dentist by profession

She completed her BDS from Chennai, and after doing House Surgency she started working in Chennai itself. By that time, she started feeling that her acting dreams is ending soon. She took 2-days leave and reached Kochi to do a short film. On that occasion she got her first film offer through a friend. She has to stay back at least 2 weeks for the film shooting. She was in a dilemma to choose between acting and dentist professions, and she chose the first one. She took 2-weeks emergency leave. The movie was titled Ezhuthola, and soon after she finished shooting, she got second script – Praharam. As she needed 25 days for shooting, she resigned her job and accepted the project. That was the beginning of her film journey.

Joju George offered her Pani, after watching her brief role in Antony

Merlet did a brief role in Joju starrer Antony. Joju noticed it, and when he made his directorial debut next year, he offered her the second lead role in Pani. She was asked if she is ok with bold role, which she said, yes. Her role got noticed for the bold scenes with Sagar Surya. Her first scene was shot in Thrissur round during busy day hours. When the film got released, the film ran in full-packed theatres. She got appreciation from all corners. Her parents watched the film and appreciated her, which was her biggest compliment.

Merlet Ann Thomas – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. Before doing bold scenes in Pani, as a sort of preparation she watched two films for self-motivation – Pathinaru Vayathinile and Bandit Queen.

2. She enjoyed reels of Kalippante Kanthari, as she did a similar kind of role in Pani.

3. She takes criticisms in a positive way, especially when criticisms came about some disturbing scenes from Pani.