Shobana

Shobana
Shobana receiving the Padma Shri Award from the then President of India Dr A P J Abdul Kalam
Born	Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (1970-03-21) 21 March 1970 (age 51)[1][2] Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Occupation	Actress dancer choreographer
Years active	1980–present
Children	1 (adopted)
Relatives	Travancore family
Awards	Padma Shri (2006)
Website	www.actressshobana.com

Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (born 21 March 1970), better known mononymously as Shobana, is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Film Awards, one Kerala State Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South, with 14 Nominations for Best Actress Category in different three south Indian languages, Tamil Nadu State Kalaimamani Honoring Award in 2011 and numerous other awards.^[3][4]

Shobana established herself as a leading actress in 1980s and 1990s. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress twice, for her performances in the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu (1993) and the English film Mitr, My Friend (2001). Subsequent to the year 1999, Shobana turned extremely selective about her films.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

Shobana was trained under the Bharata Natyam dancers Chitra Visweswaran and Padma Subrahmanyam. She emerged as an independent performer and choreographer in her twenties and currently runs a dance school, Kalarpana, in Chennai.^[5] In 2006, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the arts.^[10][11] In 2014, the Kerala State Government honoured her with the Kala Ratna Award. In 2019, she was bestowed an honorary doctorate from Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute.^[12] In 2021, she was bestowed an Doctor of Letters degree from Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit.

Personal life[]

She is the niece of the Travancore sisters – Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini, all of whom were Indian classical dancers and actresses.^[13] The actress Sukumari was her paternal aunt. Malayalam actress Ambika Sukumaran is her relative. Malayalam actors Vineeth is her cousin and Krishna is her nephew.^[14]

In 2011, Shobana adopted a girl and named her Anantha Narayani.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Career[]

Film career[]

Shobhana performing Bharathanatyam.

Shobana made her debut as an artist at a very young age. She had a major role in the Tamil movie Mangala Nayagi in 1979 directed by Krishnan–Panju, starring Srikanth and K. R. Vijaya which was the remake of the Hindi film Saajan Bina Suhagan for which she won the Best child Artiste Award.^[19] Bhakta Dhruva Markendaya in 1982 which was produced and directed by Dr. P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna, which was an acclaimed all children film made in both Tamil and Telugu ^[20][21][22] As an adult, she was introduced to the film industry through the film April 18, by director Balachandra Menon. Her realistic portrayal of a simple girl-next-door appealed to audiences instantly and she went on to work in numerous films. In the same year, she entered the Tamil film industry and acted in Enakkul Oruvan, directed by SP Muthuraman.^[6] Enakkul Oruvan didn't do well at the box office and Shobana's commercial landing was stalled and she went back into Malayalam films. She did come back to act in occasional Tamil films opposite Satyaraj (Mallu Vetti Minor, Vaathiyar Veetu Pillai), Bhagyaraj (Ithu Namma Aalu) and Vijayakanth (Ponmana Selvan, En Kitta Mothathey) in the early 90s – these roles were generally glamorous in which Shobana generally acted as the beautiful, posh and haughty city girl who is eventually charmed by the village boy.^[23]

Her other major films include Rudraveena (1988), Meleparambil Aanveedu, Kanamarayathu, Ithiri Poove Chuvanna Poove , Yathra, Rangam (1985), Anantaram, Nadodikkattu (1987), Vellanakalude Nadu (1988), Idhu Namma Aalu (1988), Siva (1989), Innale (1990), Thalapathi (1991), Pappayude Swantham Appoos (1992), Manichitrathazhu (1993), Thenmavin Kombath (1994), Minnaram (1994), Mazhayethum Munpe(1995), Agni Sakshi (1999), Dance like a Man (2003), Makalkku (2005), Thira (film) (2013) and Varane Avashyamund (2020). From Aviduthe Pole Ivideyum to Upaharam, Shobana did sixteen movies in a single year, 1985.^[24] Shobana also acted in the Tamil period film Kochadaiiyaan.^[4]

Shobana won her first National Film Award for Best Actress in 1994 for her performance in AM Fazil's Manichitrathazhu. Her portrayal of Ganga Nakulan and alter-ego Nagavalli in the film was described by critics as "spell binding".^[25] She received her second National Film Award for Best Actress in 2001 for her role in the Indian English language film Mitr, My Friend, directed by Revathi. Consequent to the 1993 National Award, Shobana turned extremely selective about her films.^[26]

Classical dance career[]

Then President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presenting the Padma Shri Award to Shobana in New Delhi on 20 March 2006.

Shobana is an accomplished Bharata Natyam dancer.^[27] She did her dance training at the Chidambaram academy in Chennai, Tamil Nadu under Chitra Visweswaran. Shobana danced Abhinaya, a pivotal element in Bharata Natyam. She was one among the judges in Jodi No. 1, a reality show for dance aired on Vijay TV.

She started her own dance school, "Kalipinya" in 1989 and got it registered in 1992.^[3]

She has worked on collaborative ventures with the likes of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram and Mandolin Srinivas. Her recitals abroad include those at the World Malayalee convention, in the United States in 1985 and 1995, in Kuala Lumpur before the King and Queen of Malaysia, numerous cities in the United States, Europe, South East Asia and Australia.^[28] Shobana started performing in the Soorya Music & Dance festival organised by Soorya Krishnamoorthy from the year 1994.^[29] In 1999, Shobana along with Prabhu Deva and A. R. Rahman performed with a Tamil film dancing troupe at the "Michael Jackson and Friends" concert in Munich, Germany. She was also a part of Mani Ratnam's stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai in 2000.

In 1994, Shobana founded a school for classical dance Bharata Natyam in Chennai named Kalarpana.^[30]

Filmography[]

Shobana performing classical dance in 2014.

Shobana performing in a stage show.

Malayalam[]

Telugu[]

Shobana's Maya Ravan performance in Bangalore, which was held on 12 September in 2008.

Tamil[]

Kannada[]

Hindi[]

English[]

Awards and recognitions[]

Titles and honours[]

Other awards[]

Television[]

References[]

External links[]

• Media related to Shobana at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Shobana at IMDb