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Meet actor who is a single mother, debuted as lead at 14, two-time National award winner and has acted in over 230 Indian films
Read on to learn about an actress who is a single mother, a two-time National Award recipient, and has been part of over 230 films.
She is a talented actress who has played various roles over the years in languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, and English. She has even won the National Award for Best Actress twice and is a dotting single mother.
Yes, we are talking about the ever-graceful and magnificent Shobana who can floor us with her acting skills, even after all these years.
Shobana: From child artist to an evergreen leading lady
Actress Shobana made her showbiz debut with the 1980 Tamil movie Mangala Nayagi starring Srikanth and K. R. Vijaya. The actress further went on to play roles as a child artist in Manmatha Ragangal and the Telugu children’s film Bhakta Dhruva Markandeya.
However, she soon evolved into a lead actress at just the age of 14, with the film April 18. The film, starring and directed by Balachandra Menon, also had veteran actors like Adoor Bhasi and Bharat Gopy in pivotal roles.
Shobana's girl-next-door character was promptly welcomed by the audience which paved the way for several critically acclaimed films. In the same year, she made her lead debut in Tamil opposite Kamal Haasan with the film Enakkul Oruvan which was the remake of the Bollywood hit Farz.
Despite the film’s failure at the box office, the actress went on to star in several Tamil movies over the years. Her usual character in the early days would feature a playful city girl who gets wooed by a charming village guy, mostly played by Sathyaraj, Vijayakanth, or Bhagyaraj.
However, the actress excelled in Malayalam as well since she was the leading star of many films since the 1980s. Classic movies like Kanamarayathu, Ithiri Poove Chuvanna Poove, Nadodikkattu, Vellanakalude Nadu, and many more still have quite an impact on Malayalam pop culture. With these films, the actress became one of the beloved pairs the audience loved to see opposite superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty.
Not just limiting herself to Malayalam films, the actress also featured opposite actors Nagarjuna Akkineni, Venkatesh Daggubati, and Megastar Chiranjeevi in 80s films like Vikram, Ajeyudu, and Rudraveena. Subsequently, in the 1990s, she was seen playing various roles across South languages, especially Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.
In the 90s, the actress yet again played several iconic roles in films like the Rajinikanth-Mani Ratnam movie Thalapathi, Chiranjeevi’s Rowdy Alludu, Vishnuvardhan’s Shivashankar and the much-celebrated Mohanlal starrer epic Manichitrathazhu, which earned Shobana her first National Award for Best Actress and is even slated to re-release soon.
Despite being a talented actress and a favorite for many fans, the leading lady started to dwindle down the number of films she did over the years. Taking a look at her filmography since the late 90s and the advent of the 2000s, the actress has taken a selective approach to movies and focused more and more on her dancing career.
In the 2000s along with her selective filmography, the actress also went on to make her lead debut in Hindi feature films playing roles in movies like Apna Asmaan and Mere Baap Pehle Aap. Moreover, in 2002, the actress also made her first English-language Indian movie called Mitr, My Friend which paved the way to her second National Award.
One of the recent movies she has been a part of is the epic blockbuster flick Kalki 2898 AD starring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Kamal Haasan. The Nag Ashwin directorial featured her as Mariam, the leader of Shambala. Interestingly, she also sang for the film.
The actress is set to star in various movies in the coming months and one of them is the Mohanlal film, tentatively titled L360. Interestingly, she is also rumored to be part of Rajinikanth’s Coolie.
Shobana’s personal life
Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai was born on March 21, 1970, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The actress is the niece of the famous Travancore sisters - Lalitha, Padmini, and Ragini, who were prominent dancers and actresses since the 1940s.
The actress is also a well-trained and talented Bharatanatyam dancer who trained under Chitra Visweswaran and Padma Subrahmanyam. Currently running a dance school, Shobana has performed in front of audiences around the globe. The actress-dancer has also never been married but adopted a daughter back in 2011, making her a single mother.
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