“What is the criterion for a good dancer today?” asked recently, “Does performers who jumps the highest or leaps around the stage qualify as the best?”
In the past few years, Bharatanatyam, one of the most sophisticated and evolved dance forms, seems to have imperceptibly metamorphosed into some kind of a desi form of ballet with
arm-finging and high vaulting leaps.
The last decade has seen a crop of dancers, both male and female, who have cultivated these basic features as part of their body language. Sure enough, their nritta sparkles with power always and sometimes with grace as well. Here is the profile of India’s top most actresses and dancer who brought grace to both acting and dance field.
Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai who is widely known as Shobana is one of the most popular actresses down south. She is better known mononymously as Shobana, is an Indian film actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She was born into a Malayalam-speaking family from Kerala, India on March 21, 1970, better known as Shobana. Shobhana was educated in Chennai at Rosary Matric Girls School. She is the niece of the Travancore sisters – Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini, who were all classical Indian dancers and actresses. The actress Sukumari was her paternal aunt. Malayalam actress Ambika Sukumaran is her relative. The Malayalam actor Vineeth is her cousin and Krishna is his nephew. She has an adopted daughter, Ananthanarayani.
Shobana was trained with dancers Bharata Natyam, Chitra Visweswaran and Padma Subrahmanyam. She has emerged as an independent performer and choreographer in her twenties and currently runs a dance school, Kalarpana, in Chennai.
Shobana made her debut as a child artist in the Bollywood film Amar Prem (1972). As an adult, she was introduced to the film industry through the film April 18, by director Balachandra Menon. Her realistic portrayal of a simple girl-next-door appealed to audiences instantly and she went on to work in numerous films. In the same year, she entered the Tamil film industry and acted in Enakkul Oruvan, directed by SP Muthuraman. Enakkul Oruvan didn't do well at the box office and Shobana's commercial landing was stalled and she went back into Malayalam films. She did come back to act in occasional Tamil films opposite Satyaraj (Mallu Vetti Minor, Vaathiyar Veetu Pillai), Bhagyaraj (Ithu Namma Aalu) and Vijayakanth (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. She has played nearly 230 films, mostly in Malayalam, in addition to Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two national film awards, a Kerala State Film Award and many other awards.
Shobana established herself as a leading actress in the 1980s and ’90s. She has worked with directors such as Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G. Aravindan, K. Balachander, AM Fazil, Mani Ratnam, Bharathan, Uppalapati Narayana Rao and Priyadarsan. She has twice won the National Film Award for best actress for her performances in the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu (1993).
In 2006, the Indian government honored Shobana of Padma Shri for her contributions to the arts. In 2014, the government of Kerala State awarded him the Kala Ratna Award.
Shobana established herself as a leading actress in 1980s and 1990s. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress twice, for her performances in the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu (1993) and the English film Mitr, My Friend (2001). Consequent to the year 1999, Shobana turned extremely selective about her films.
Her other major films include Rudraveena (1988), Meleparambil Aanveedu, Kanamarayathu, Ithiri Poove Chuvanna Poove , Yathra, Rangam (1985), Anantaram, Vrutham (1987), Idhu Namma Aalu (1988), Siva (1989), Innale (1990), Thalapathi (1991), Pappayude Swantham Appoos(1992),Manichitrathazhu (1993), Thenmavin Kombath (1994), Mazhayethum Munpe(1995)Dance like a Man (2003), and Makalkku (2005). From Aviduthe Pole Ivideyum to Upaharam, Shobana did sixteen movies in a single year, 1985.Shobana also acted in the Tamil period film Kochadaiiyaan.
Bharatiya Kala Vedika wishes ALL THE BEST in her future endeavours.
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