Meet actress, single mother, who worked in over 200 films, still unmarried at 55, is now..., her name is..., Hema Malini's mother was her...
Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai, popularly known by her screen-name Shobana is one of the most sought-after actresses in South Indian cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, she worked in over 200 films in various languages. Moreover, she also featured opposite superstars like Nandamuri Balakrishna, Venkatesh, Chiranjeevi, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Mohan Babu, Rajendra Prasad, and many more.
Shobana was introduced to films by Hema Malini's mother, Jaya Chakravarthy, who saw her while she was with her aunt, renowned actress Padmini. She started working at the mere age of 14. Soon, after making her debut with the film April 18 , she became a lead heroine in the Malayalam industry.
Shobana secured two National awards, one for Best Actress in 1993 for her performance in AM Fazil's Manichitrathazhu, another came in 2001 for her role in film Mitr, My Friend . She took a break from films in 2020 to focus on Bharatnatyam, and also runs her own dance school, Kalarpana in Chennai.
However in 2024, she made a smashing comeback to films with Nag Ashwin's Kalki 2898 AD , starring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, and Disha Patani in prominent roles. Moreover, she is currently grabbing headlines for her reunion with Malayalam superstar, Mohanlal after 15 years, in the film Thudarum . Released on April 25, 2025, the film became a box office success, grossing Rs 236 crore globally.
Despite being one of the most successful actresses, Shobana chose to remain unmarried and is still single at the age of 55. In a throwback interview as quoted by BollywoodShaadis, Shobana revealed why she never got married, 'Well, I am not particularly against the institution of marriage in anyways. I haven't found the time for it amidst my busy schedule. Maybe I haven't spotted the right guy. And for that matter, I have seen only a few marriages that work. That can also be one of the reasons.' She said.
In 2011, Shobana became a single mom, as she adopted a baby girl Anantha Narayani. She prefers to keep her daughter away from the limelight, and restricted her pictures to be uploaded on any of her social media pages.
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