Shobana

Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (born 21 March 1970 ) is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer.

She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and English films.

She had a major role in the Tamil movie Mangala Nayagi in 1980 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.

She also starred in the Telugu film Bhakta Dhruva Markendaya in 1982, an acclaimed all children film made in both Tamil and Telugu.

As an adult, she was introduced to the film industry through the Malayalam film April 18 (1984), by director Balachandra Menon.

Her realistic portrayal of a simple girl-next-door appealed to audiences and she went on to work in numerous films.

In the same year, she entered the Tamil film industry and acted in Enakkul Oruvan (1984), directed by SP Muthuraman.

Enakkul Oruvan didn't perform well at the box office and Shobana's commercial landing was stalled as 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.

In Rudraveena (1984), alongside Mega Star Chiranjeevi, she played classical dancer Lalitha Sivajyothi, who belongs to a lower caste and is denied entry into the temple.

The film gave her recognition in Telugu cinema.

From Aviduthe Pole Ivideyum to Upaharam, Shobana did sixteen movies in a single year, 1985.

Her other major films include Rudraveena (1988), Meleparambil Aanveedu, Kanamarayathu (1984) Ithiri Poove Chuvanna Poove, Yathra(1985), Anantaram (1987), Nadodikkattu (1987), Vellanakalude Nadu (1988), Idhu Namma Aalu (1988), Siva (1989), Innale (1990), Kalikkalam (1990), Thalapathi (1991), Pappayude Swantham Appoos (1992), Manichitrathazhu (1993), Thenmavin Kombath (1994), Minnaram (1994), Mazhayethum Munpe (1995), Hitler (1996), Agni Sakshi (1999), Dance like a Man (2003), Makalkku (2005), Thira (2013) and Varane Avashyamund (2020).

In Abhinandana (1988), she paired with Karthik, and essayed his love interest, who aspires to become a classical dancer.

In Kokila (1990), she paired with Naresh, and In Alludugaru (1990) she starred opposite Mohan Babu and was a remake of Malayalam film ''Chithram.

1 April Viduthala and Rowdy Gari Pellam'' were other Telugu films in 1991.

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).

Shobana won her first National Film Award for Best Actress in 1993 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".

Consequent to the 1993 National Award, Shobana turned extremely selective about her films.

Shobana is a Bharata Natyam dancer.

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.

Subsequent to the year 1999, Shobana turned extremely selective about her films.

Shobana was trained under the Bharatanatyam 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.

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.

In 2006, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the arts.

She has won two National Film Awards, one Kerala State Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South with 14 Nominations for Best Actress Category in three different south Indian languages, Tamil Nadu State's Kalaimamani Award in 2011 and numerous other awards.

In a career spanning nearly 40 years Shobana has starred in 230 films across several languages predominantly in Malayalam, besides Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English.

In 2011, she became a single-parent mother to a girl child named Anantha Narayani Chandrakumar through adoption.

Shobana made her debut as a child artists.

In 2014, the Kerala State Government honoured her with the Kala Ratna Award.

Shobana also acted in the Tamil period film Kochadaiiyaan (2014).

She has shared the screen space with the ace actors of Tollywood right from Nandamuri Balakrishna, Venkatesh, Chiranjeevi, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Mohan Babu, Rajendra Prasad, and many more.

In 2019, she was bestowed an honorary doctorate from Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute.

In 2022, she was bestowed a Doctor of Letters degree from Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit.

She is the niece of the Travancore sisters – Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini, all of whom were Indian classical dancers and actresses.

Shobhana is single.