15 BEST SHOBANA PERFORMANCES in Malayalam films

film Innale

Regarded in the highest echelon of Indian actors, Shobana has had a long and distinguished career in films in various languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English. She has won the National Award for best actress twice, and is also the recipient of the coveted Padma Shri for her outstanding contributions to classical dance. An idol to a majority of the current breed of young actors and aspirants alike, she is a force of nature for those who truly know her work. Following is a list of some of her best performances in Malayalam films.

                   

15. Meera in Pavithram

In Pavithram, she plays a charming bookworm of a girlfriend who is a constant reminder of a misplaced life to the tragic hero who in an attempt to raise his ‘baby’ sister gives up all the worldly pleasures. Although her presence here is sparse and intermittent as one of the many good things he gave up in life, her performance as the hurting lover is sad and positive at the same time.

14. Shobana in April 18  

Shobana was literally a schoolgirl when she made her acting debut in Balachandra Menon’s April 18 in the role of a loving yet possessive wife of a policeman caught between duty and domesticity. But not for an instance did she let her age come in the way of executing the impulsive and stubborn character. In turn she used its innocence and rawness to bargain the hurtful foibles of the clingy wife our sympathy.

13. Pavizham in Meleparambil Aanveedu

The purity and vulnerability of the gullible Tamilian she plays in Rajasenan’s rip-roaring comedy is central to all the hullabaloo in the family of men at the core of the plot. She who plays the daughter of a wealthy gounder back in her hometown is reduced to a maidservant following her clandestine wedding with the youngest of the said rowdy family. The charm she exudes as the almost childlike character is a joy to watch.

12. Maya in Innale

As the name of the character suggests the protagonist in Padmarajan’s Innale had to have that dreamy texture about it, which only came naturally to Shobana- the actor who, musing about a disoriented past cautiously entombs it under a happy and fruitful future. Her performance in the divisive climax as the oblivious lover in the present, ‘unwittingly’ deserting her real husband from the past, is one of the most touching scenes in Malayalam cinema.

11. Ambika in Chilambu

Ambika in Bharathan’s ritualistic revenge drama is as integral to it as the vengeful Paramu, her childhood sweetheart whom she aids to punish her own father. Even hailing from a family run by a coldblooded patriarch, she has a mind of her own and judges for herself the right from the wrong, which eventually aids in the climactic redemption of the titular ornament.

10. Bhadra in Maya Mayooram

You might not be able figure out whether it is out of sympathy or love that you feel for the naïve servant girl in love with one of the two Mohanlals in Maya Mayooram, but the charm of the archetypical village belle who talks to plants and snakes alike, is brought to life with so much innocence that it pains you greatly when she is heartbroken or attempts suicide.

9. Vijayalakshmi in Anubandham

The unhappy wife in I.V. Sasi’s tragic drama is one of a kind in Shobana’s diverse oeuvre. Cribbing and nagging through the entire run of her presence, she is forever the pain in the wrong place. When the horrible tragedy strikes in the film, you might even think for an instant that she deserved it. But Vijayalakshmi undergoes transformation overnight, and that change is also rendered here with the same worrying persistence.

8. Bhama in Pappayude Swantham Appoos

It was vital for the fairy godmother in Fazil’s family drama to be charming, gentle and haunting at the same time as she is supposed to be the dead mother of the eponymous kid, who relives through his fantasies and prerecorded tapes. The emotional conflict she depicts in the climactic sequence alone where she arrives on water to claim his life and eventually returns changing her mind about it is incredible.

7. Shirly in Kanamarayathu

After her debut as the grownup and mature housewife in April 18, her next film was Kanamarayathu, I.V. Sasi’s unusual drama inspired by Jean Webster’s young-adult novel, where she finally got to play her age. As the reckless orphan in the look out for her compassionate sponsor, she is also secretly in love with a much older man, all of which is buoyed by her first rate performance.

6. Devaki in Agnisakshi

It is not inherent in Devaki to take the age-old customs of the Nambothiri illam lying down. So she breaks the shackles of those conservative codes and defiantly takes active part in the Indian freedom struggle. Shobana’s portrayal of this logical nonconformist has a lot of depth. Although seemingly self-assured she makes us doubt if she isn’t under pressure for having defied her roots, and the glimpse of the ascetic she turns into eventually only adds to it.

5. Nandini Menon in Pakshe

As a motif of sacrifice, Nandini from Pakshe also stretches a spectrum of transformation from an innocent and aspiring writer to a mature and renowned author jaded with wounds of heartbreak. This tragic heroine who initially appears as a charming young lover in a distant and cherished memory, later manifests as the tranquil and reserved intellectual rekindling the romance with her old flame only to be disappointed all over again.

4. Bhavani in Vasthuhara

                                                                               

In Aravindan’s intricate maze addressing refugee-life in 1970’s Calcutta, Shobana appears in a powerful cameo as the mischievously striking past of a complex and conflicted Bhavani played by actor Padmini. She unapologetically and craftily swings between two lovers who are also brothers, and through the eyes of a beguiled kid, she initially appears as the enigmatic being that is at liberty to twist and turn her own life at will.

3. Suma/ Nalini in Anantaram

As the beautiful wife of the protagonist’s stepbrother, and later as the ambiguous figure that chances in his far-fetched love story, the split-image Shobana inwardly portrays in Adoor’s Anantaram deserves praises for being aptly and confusingly subtle. It is an incredibly perceptive moment towards the end when the great restrain with which she depicts the demure housewife who unwittingly attracts the teenager fuses with the candid imagery of his uninhibited love interest.

2. Karthumbi in Thenmavin Kombath

This is one character where she comes in a wholesome package of vibrantly vernacular getups and impeccable comic timing as the bombastic love interest of the two leading men.  With the liberal level of improvisation that was acceptable in the Priyadarshan School of filmmaking, the actor herself has admitted it to be a role she had a blast doing, that is only way too evident from the ingenious outcome.

1. Ganga in Manichithratazhu

No credits for guessing this one. The celebrated psycho in Fazil’s genre-bending thriller was the role of a lifetime that pushed the boundaries of an actor’s scope. Shobana in her National Award winning role, played a victim of split-personality-disorder with a supernatural verve presenting us with some of the greatest acting moments on Indian Screen ever. The hysterical Nagavalli, the bloodthirsty alter ego of Ganga, is now also one of the most distinguished icons in Malayalam pop culture.