Shobana

Shobana

Shobana Chandrakumar (Malayalam: ശോഭന; born March 21, 1970), commonly known as Shobana, is an exponent of the Bharatanatyam dance and was a leading actress of Indian motion pictures. She was born into a Malayalam speaking family from Kerala, India. Shobana 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 Ms Sukumari is an aunt from the paternal side

Shobana is the daughter of a Dr. Anandam and the late Mr Chandrakumar- She is single and is involved in her school as well her creative pursuits full time. Her very close friends from the industry are Revathy, Suhasini & Rohini. She has a penchant for make up & hairdressing and often tries her hand at hairstyling Kushboo Sundar, her co-artist whenever they acted together.

Choreographer, Dancer, Teacher and Actress all rolled into one, Shobana is one of the most distinguished artistic personalities to emerge from India. Starting with her initiation under her guru K.J.Sarasa, Shobana has been an intense practitioner of Bharatanatyam, a dance of mind & soul, for over 30 years now. She has performed alongside great Indian artists such as Ustad Zakir Hussain, Sonal Mansingh & Padma Subramanyam and in front of prominent audiences such as Former US President Bill Clinton and King & Queen of Malaysia. Shobana has starred in over 225 filmsacross all four major South Indian languages including performances under the distinguished direction of renowned filmmakers like ManiRatnam & K.Balachandar.

Awards & Accolades

• Padmashree 2006 (Govt. of India)
• National Award for Best Actress 2002  Film: Mitr – My friend (in English)
• Bharat Kalaratna 1996 (Bharathalaya, Chennai)
• National Award for Best Actress 1994  Film: Manichitrathazhu (in Malayalam)
• Nathya Jyothi 1994 (Indian Fine Arts Centre, Australia)