Shobana

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shobana

• Shobana started her career as a child artist.

  

• She came into the limelight with the 1980 Tamil film ‘Mangala Nayagi,’ which was directed by Krishnan and Panju. This film was a remake of the Hindi film ‘Saajan Bina Suhagan.’

  

• In 1982, she appeared in the Telugu film ‘Bhakta Dhruva Markendaya,’ a children’s film. The film was later released in Tamil.

• Shobhana is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. She is trained by Chitra Visweswaran and Padma Subrahmanyam at the Chidambaram Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

  

• Shobana excels in Abhinaya, a form of Bharatanatyam. She became an independent performer and choreographer in her twenties.

• She entered the film industry as an actress with the Malayalam film ‘April 18’ in 1984. The film was directed by Balachandra Menon. Her portrayal of a simple girl in the film was praised by audiences.

• In 1984, she made her acting debut in the Tamil film industry with the film ‘Enakkul Oruvan,’ which was directed by SP Muthuraman. The film did not perform well at the box office.

  

• In the 1988 film ‘Abhinandana,’ she played the love interest of Karthik’s character, who aspires to become a classical dancer.

  

• In 1989, she started her dance school named ‘Kalipinya,’ and registered it in 1992.

• In the 1990 film ‘Kokila,’ Shobana worked with actor Naresh, and in ‘Alludugaru,’ she acted opposite Mohan Babu. ‘Alludugaru’ was a remake of the Malayalam film ‘Chithram.’

  

• Shobana worked in some Tamil films in the early 1990s. These films include ‘Mallu Vetti Minor,’ ‘Vaathiyaar Veettu Pillai,’ ‘Idhu Namma Aalu,’ ‘Ponmana Selvan,’ and ‘En Kitta Mothathey.’

• Shobana then returned to Malayalam films.

• Some of her hit Malayalam films include ‘Kanamarayathu’ (1984), ‘Kalikkalam’ (1990), ‘Makalkku’ (2005), ‘Thira’ (2013), and ‘Varane Avashyamund’ (2020).

  

• In Tollywood, Shobana has acted alongside top actors including Nandamuri Balakrishna, Daguubati Venkatesh, Chiranjeevi, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Rajinikanth, Mohan Babu, and Rajendra Prasad.

  

• In 1991, she appeared in the Telugu films ‘1 April Vidudala’ and ‘Rowdy Gari Pellam.’

• In 1994, Shobana founded another classical dance school named ‘Kalarpana’ in Chennai.

• In her live dance shows and events, she often collaborates with artists like Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram, and Mandolin Srinivas.

  

• In 1995, she performed a dance show in Kuala Lumpur before the King and Queen of Malaysia.

• She has performed at stage shows across the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia, and is a regular performer at the Soorya Music & Dance Festival organized by Soorya Krishnamoorthy.

• In 2001, she appeared in the Indian English-language film ‘Mitr, My Friend.’ The film was directed by actress Revathy.

  

• In 2003, she appeared in an English language film ‘A Little Dream,’ based on the life of former Indian President late APJ Abdul Kalam.

• She acted in the Tamil historical film ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ in 2014.

• Shobana has acted in more than 230 films in various languages.

• In 2019, she was featured on the cover of Vogue magazine.

  

• She frequently appears as a judge on various dance reality shows on television.

  

• She is an animal lover and has pet dogs. She often shares pictures of her pets on social media.

  

• She likes travelling to distant places, cooking food, singing classical songs, and listening to music in her free time.

  

• She is often invited to various events as a guest by the Government of Kerala to promote Kerala Tourism.