Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (born 21 March 1970); known mononymously as Shobana, is an Indian actress and

Bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...

dancer, who works predominantly in

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

films, in addition to

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

, Telugu,

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, English and

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

films. She is a recipient of two

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

, 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 Cha ...

and two

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

. In 2011, Shobana received the

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government ...

by Tamil Nadu Government. Over the years, she established herself as one of the greatest South Indian actresses. In a career spanning over four decades, Shobana has starred in 230 films across several languages. She has earned two

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role 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 within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry. ...

for her performances in the Malayalam film '' Manichitrathazhu'' (1993) and the English film ''

Mitr, My Friend ''Mitr, My Friend'' is a 2002 Indian English-language drama film directed by Revathi in her directorial debut, and written by V. Priya and Sudha Kongara. The film stars Shobana, Nasir Abdullah and Preeti Vissa. Set partly in India and the US the f ...

'' (2001). The former also won her the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969 to an actress for the best performance within the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. Until 1997, the awards w ...

. Additionally, she received two Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam for her performance in '' Innale'' (1990) and '' Thenmavin Kombath'' (1994). Shobhana is also a Bharatanatyam dancer who received her training under 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 Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

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

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

for her contributions towards the arts. In 2013, she received Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship, also known as ''Kalarathna'', for her contributions to the performing arts. She received

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 hon ...

s from Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation in 2018, Dr. MGR Educational and Research Institute in 2019 and

Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit The Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS) is a Sanskrit university in India established in 1993 When Indian Union Muslim league leader Sri. ET Muhammed Basheer was the. Education minister of Kerala in Kalady, Kochi, Kerala. The founda ...

in 2022. Shobana was awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, India's third highest civilian award, in 2025.

Early life

Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai was born on March 21, 1970, into a Nair family in Kerala to Chandrakumar Pillai and Anandam Chandrakumar Pillai. She is the niece of the renowned Travancore sisters— Padmini, Lalitha and Ragini—who were celebrated for their expertise in classical Indian dance. Actor

Vineeth Vineeth Radhakrishnan (born 23 August 1969) is an Indian actor, Bharatanatyam dancer, voice artist and choreographer who primarily works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. He has also appeared in a few Hindi and Kannada films. He h ...

and actress Parvathy Kurup are her cousins.

Career

Film career

Shobana made her debut as a child artist. In 1980, she won the Best Child Artiste Award for her role in the Tamil movie, '' Mangala Nayagi'', a remake of the Hindi film ''Saajan'' ''Bina Suhagan''. 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 ...

'' (1984), by director

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

. In the same year, she debuted in the Tamil film industry with '' Enakkul Oruvan'' (1984), directed by SP Muthuraman. She did come back to act in occasional Tamil films opposite

Satyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), known professionally as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, film producer, film director and a media personality who appears predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil films. He also appears in works in Telugu lan ...

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

Vijayakanth Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politi ...

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

Meleparambil Aanveedu ''Meleparambil Anveedu'' () is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Rajasenan and scripted by Raghunath Paleri from a story by Gireesh Puthenchery. It stars Jayaram and Shobana, with Narendra Prasad, Mee ...

'', '' Kanamarayathu'' (1984) '' Ithiri Poove Chuvanna Poove'', '' Yathra'' (1985), '' Anantaram'' (1987), ''

Nadodikkattu ''Nadodikkattu'' () is a 1987 Indian Malayalam-language satirical comedy film directed by Sathyan Anthikad and written by Sreenivasan based on a story by the Siddique–Lal duo. It stars Mohanlal and Sreenivasan in the lead roles, along with an ...

'' (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 ''Minnaram'' () is a 1994 Indian Malayalam-language romantic tragedy film written and directed by Priyadarshan from a story by Cheriyan Kalpakavadi. The film stars Mohanlal, Shobana, and Thilakan, in main lead roles, with Sankaradi, K. P. Um ...

'' (1994), '' Mazhayethum Munpe'' (1995), ''Hitler'' (1996), '' Agni Sakshi'' (1999), ''Dance like a Man'' (2003), '' Makalkku'' (2005), ''

Thira Santorini (, ), officially Thira (, ) or Thera, is a Greece, Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from the mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera. It is the sou ...

'' (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 ''Kochadaiiyaan: The Legend'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language animated period action film written by K. S. Ravikumar and directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth. It is India's first photorealistic motion capture film, featuring characters wh ...

'' (2014). In ''Rudraveena'' (1988), alongside

Chiranjeevi Konidela Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, philanthropist and former politician known for his work in Telugu cinema. Known as the "Mega Star", he is widely regarded as one of the most succe ...

and

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred as Kaadhal Mannan (King of Romance) for his romantic roles in films. G ...

, she played classical dancer Lalitha Sivajyothi, who belongs to a lower caste and is denied entry into the temple. 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. Shobana won her first

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

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". Following her National Award win in 1993, Shobana became highly selective about her films.

Classical dance career

Shobana is a

dancer. 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 Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

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''.

Personal life

She remains unmarried and in 2011, adopted a daughter, becoming a single mother.

Filmography

Malayalam

Telugu

Tamil

Hindi

English

Kannada

Awards and recognitions

Titles and honours

Film 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 Bharatanatyam exponents Kerala State Film Award winners Filmfare Awards South winners Best Actress National Film Award winners Kerala Film Critics Awards 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 Indian women musicians 21st-century Indian drummers Actresses in Tamil television Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema Recipients of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts