Shobana made her début in the
Malayalam motion picture April 18 (1984) at the age of fourteen.
[2] The movie was directed by
Balachandra Menon. She acted alongside
Mammootty in
Kanamarayathu (1984). The same year she entered the Tamil film industry and acted in
Enakkul Oruvan directed by
S. P. Muthuraman alongside
Kamal Haasan. In the subsequent years, she acted in many Tamil films. She acted with
Rajinikanth in films like
Siva and
Thalapathi, the latter being directed by
Mani Ratnam became a landmark film in her career. Shobhana became a leading heroine in Telugu film industry too. She has to her credit of being the lead opposite
Nagarjuna Akkineni, when he made his début in film
"Vikram". Shobana won her first
National Film Award for Best Actress from the government of India in 1994 for her brilliant performance in
Fazil's
Manichitrathazhu. She received her second National award for best actress in 2001 for her role in the English language film
Mitr, My Friend, directed by
Revathi. Shobhana is an accomplished
Bharatanatyam dancer. She did her dance training at the Chidambaram academy in
Chennai,
Tamil Nadu. Her guru is the legendary Bharatanatyam dancer
Chitra Visweswaran. Shobhana is famed for her
Abhinaya, a pivotal element in Bharatanatyam.
[3] She performed in
Kuala Lumpur before the
King and
Queen of
Malaysia.
[4] Shobhana's skilled execution of dance movements and her extraordinary beauty has led many to consider her as the most beautiful South Indian actress from the 1980s through the 1990s. She is often equalled to the curvaceous beauty of Indian
sculptures.
[5] Shobana is well recognized for her performance in the movie
Rudra Veena with
Chiranjeevi. She was also a part of
Mani Ratnam's stage show,
Netru, Indru, Naalai.
In 1994, Shobana founded a school for classical Bharatanatyam dance in Chennai - Kalarpana. The aim of Kalarpana is to organize annual festivals throughout India. This includes performances of nationally and globally known artistes to help raise funds that will be ploughed back into training talented artistes who are financially insecure. Under its umbrella, Kalarpana extends its support to the handicapped and the environmental movement.
[6]