Shobhana -- Thinking actress

The Hindu : Metro Plus Bangalore / Personality: "SHE BELONGS to the genre of artistes who are both actresses and dancers. A two-time National Award winner of best actress — Manichitrathazhu (Malayalam) and Mitr: My Friend (English), Shobana made her debut in Balachandra Menon's blockbuster April 18. Her legacy in films was handed down from her famous aunts, the Travancore trio — Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini — who were all talented dancers and actors and pioneers in their own way.

Soon, movies like Kanaamarayathu, Innale, Thenmavin Kombathu, Manichitrathazhu and Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Anantharam, catapulted her to the dizzy heights of stardom and she was the frontrunner for almost a decade in Malayalam. She also had some blockbusters in Tamil, including Maniratnam's Dhalapathi. Recently, Shobana won appreciation for her role in Pamela Rooks's Dance like a Man.

After a brief hiatus, she appeared in a Malayalam film Mambazhakaalam last year, co-starring Mohanlal, where she essayed the role of Indira, a divorcee and mother of a 10-year-old girl. A noted exponent of classical dance, she runs a dance school, Kalarpana, which she founded when she was just 20 to commit herself to popularising the classical arts.

Now, the actor has come out with an entirely different performance as a mentally deranged woman in Makalkku, another path-breaker from award-winning director Jayaraj. The film revolves around a mentally ill woman played brilliantly by her.

What is her idea of a good film? "I should get carried away by it. Take Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, for instance it has a good mix of everything — performances, screenplay and music."