Shobana Chandrakumar (born 21 March 1970), mononymously known as Shobana , is an Indian film actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She was a popular lead actress in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films during the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2006, the Government of India honored Shobana with the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the arts.
Shobana made her début in the Malayalam cinema April 18 at the age of fourteen. The movie was directed by Balachandra Menon. She acted alongside Mammootty in Kanamarayathu (1984 Trivandrum, Kerala). The same year she entered the Tamil film industry and acted in Enakkul Oruvan directed by S. P. Muthuraman alongside Kamal Haasan.
Shobana was born to Anandam and Chandrakumar, in Kerala. She is the niece of the Travancore sisters- Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini, all of whom were renowned for their skill in classical Indian dance. The veteran actress Sukumari is her paternal aunt. She is single and is involved in her dance school as well as her creative pursuits full-time. Her very close friends from the industry are Revathi, Suhasini & Rohini. Famous actor and renowned dancer Vineeth is related to her. |