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

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

dancer. She acts predominantly in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

films along with

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and Tamil films with few

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and English films. She has won two National Film Awards, one

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Ch ...

, two

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassin ...

, 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. She won the

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role wi ...

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. Shobana was trained under the Bharata Natyam dancers

Chitra Visweswaran Chitra Visweswaran is an Indian Bharata Natyam dancer who runs a dance school, the Chidambaram Academy of Performing Arts, in Chennai. She was awarded the Padma Shri, one of the top civilian honours given by the Government of India, in 1992 ...

and

Padma Subrahmanyam Padma Subrahmanyam (born 4 February 1943, in Madras), is an Indian classical Bharata Natyam dancer. She is also a research scholar, choreographer, teacher, Indologist and author. She is famous in India as well as abroad; several films and docume ...

. She emerged as an independent performer and choreographer in her twenties and currently runs a dance school, ''Kalarpana'', in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

. In 2006, the Government of India honoured her with the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

for her contributions towards the arts. In 2014, the Kerala State Government honoured her with the Kala Ratna Award. In 2019, she was bestowed an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad ho ...

from Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute. In 2022, she was bestowed an

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

degree from Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit.

Personal life

She is the niece of the

Travancore sisters Travancore Sisters refers to the trio of Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini who were actresses, dancers and performers in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada films. The Travancore sisters learned dancing under Guru Gopinath and Guru T. ...

– Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini, all of whom were Indian classical dancers and actresses. Shobhana is single. In 2011, she became a single-parent mother to a girl child named Anantha Narayani through adoption.

Career

Film career

Shobana made her debut as a child artist. She had a major role in the Tamil movie '' Mangala Nayagi'' in 1979 directed by

Krishnan–Panju R. Krishnan (1909–1997) and S. Panju (1915–1984), collectively referred to as Krishnan–Panju, were Indian film directors. The duo directed more than 50 films in South Indian languages and in Hindi. Early life R. Krishnan was born on 18 ...

, starring Srikanth and K. R. Vijaya, which was the remake of the Hindi film

Saajan Bina Suhagan ''Saajan Bina Suhagan'' () is a 1978 Indian Hindi-language drama film produced and directed by Saawan Kumar Tak. The film stars Rajendra Kumar, Nutan, Vinod Mehra, Padmini Kohlapure and Shreeram Lagoo, the film's music is by Usha Khanna. It has ...

, 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 Events Pre-1600 * 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days. *1428 – Peace of Ferrara be ...

'', by director

Balachandra Menon Balachandra Menon ( ml, ബാലചന്ദ്ര മേനോൻ) (born 11 January 1954) is an Indian actor, director and script writer. He made a number of films in the 1980s and 1990s. He has directed 40 films and has acted in over 100. ...

. 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'', 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 ''Mallu Vetti Minor'' is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Manobala, produced and written by P. Kalaimani. The film stars Sathyaraj, Seetha and Shobana. It was released on 17 October 1990. The film was remade in Telugu as '' ...

, Vaathiyar Veetu Pillai''), Bhagyaraj ('' Ithu Namma Aalu'') and

Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...

(''

Ponmana Selvan ''Ponmana Selvan'' is a 1989 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by P. Vasu. The film stars Vijayakanth, Shobana, Vidhyashree, Gemini Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi. The film's score was composed by Ilaiyaraaja and was released on 15 August ...

'', '' 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. Her other major films include ''Rudraveena'' (1988), ''

Meleparambil Aanveedu ''Meleparambil Anveedu'' () is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film directed by Rajasenan and scripted by Raghunath Paleri from a story by Gireesh Puthenchery. The film stars Jayaram and Shobana in the romantic lead, along ...

'', '' Kanamarayathu'', ''

Ithiri Poove Chuvanna Poove ''Ithiri Poove Chuvannapoove'' is a 1984 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by Bharathan, with story written by Thikkodiyan and produced by P. V. Gangadharan. The film stars Madhu, Mammootty, K R Vijaya, Rahman, Suresh and Shobhana. Th ...

'', '' Yathra''(1985), '' Anantaram'', '' Nadodikkattu'' (1987), '' Vellanakalude Nadu'' (1988), '' Idhu Namma Aalu'' (1988), ''

Siva Siva may refer to: Film and television * Siva (director), Indian cinematographer and director * ''Siva'' (1989 Tamil film), a film starring Rajinikanth as the title character * ''Siva'' (1989 Telugu film), an action film Music and dance * "Siv ...

'' (1989), '' Innale'' (1990), Kalikkalam (1990), '' Thalapathi'' (1991), Pappayude Swantham Appoos (1992), '' Manichitrathazhu'' (1993), ''

Thenmavin Kombath ''Thenmavin Kompath'' () is a 1994 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Priyadarshan. It was produced and edited by N. Gopalakrishnan. The film stars Mohanlal, Shobana, and Nedumudi Venu, with Kaviyoor Po ...

'' (1994), '' Minnaram'' (1994), '' Mazhayethum Munpe'' (1995), Hitler (1996),'' Agni Sakshi'' (1999), ''Dance like a Man'' (2003), '' Makalkku'' (2005), '' Thira'' (2013) and '' Varane Avashyamund'' (2020). From '' Aviduthe Pole Ivideyum'' to '' Upaharam'', Shobana did sixteen movies in a single year, 1985. Shobana also acted in the Tamil period film '' Kochadaiiyaan''. Shobana won her first

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

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". She received her second

in 2001 for her role in the Indian English language film '' Mitr, My Friend'', directed by

Revathi Asha Kelunni Nair (born 8 July 1966), better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil & Malayalam cinema - in addition to Telugu, Hindi & Kannada films. She has won severa ...

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

Classical dance career

Shobana is a

Bharata Natyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

dancer. She did her dance training at the Chidambaram academy in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

under

. Shobana danced ''

Abhinaya Abhinaya (Sanskrit ''abhi-'' 'towards' + ''nii-'' 'leading/guide') is the art of expression in Indian aesthetics. More accurately it means "leading an audience towards" the experience (') of a sentiment ('). The concept, derived from Bharata Mu ...

'', a pivotal element in

. 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. 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 , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

before the King and Queen of Malaysia, numerous cities in the United States, Europe, South East Asia and Australia. Shobana started performing in the Soorya Music & Dance festival organised by Soorya Krishnamoorthy from the year 1994. In 1994, Shobana founded a school for classical dance

named ''Kalarpana''.

Filmography

Malayalam

Telugu

Tamil

Kannada

Hindi

English

Awards and recognitions

Titles and honours

Other awards

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shobana 1970 births Living people Indian film actresses Actresses from Thiruvananthapuram Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Performers of Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam exponents Kerala State Film Award winners Filmfare Awards South winners Best Actress National Film Award winners Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 20th-century Indian dancers 21st-century Indian dancers 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Dancers from Kerala 20th-century Indian women artists 21st-century Indian women artists Indian female classical dancers Indian women choreographers Indian choreographers Indian women classical musicians Women artists from Kerala 21st-century women musicians 21st-century drummers Actresses in Tamil television Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema