Shobana débuted in the Malayalam motion picture April 18 in 1984. 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]
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