Actress Shobana says Malaysia is a second home for her

THERE is something about famed dancer and actress Shobana Chandrakumar that leaves you dazzled for a while.

The veteran actress of the famous movie Talapathi, which also starred legendary stars like Rajinikanth and Mamoothy, is often revered for her dancing skills.

Until today, Shobana exudes the same confidence and style in her performances as she did when she began her career in 1984.

During a recent interview, the Keralite talked about her movies and her new musical, set to open on Aug 29.

Many feel that Shobana has taken a back seat in her movie career in order to pursue her passion for Bharatnatyam. However, Shobana is quick to say otherwise, adding that she has a few movies coming up.

“Both dancing and acting are creative processes for me so movies are definitely an integral part of it,” she said.

Shobana is known for her movies in most major Indian languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam and Kannada.

“I am currently working on a movie called Sagar and I am even writing a script for another Malayalam movie centred on a typical upper middle class family,” she added.

For her, the character she plays need not be a great one but the entire team is essential.

“The challenge is to turn a simple role into something to be remembered,” she said.

Her next venture would be a Hindi film which she said would be different from what she has done before but declined to elaborate.

The actress has won two national awards for Manichitrathaazhu (Malayalam) in 1994 and Mitr, My Friend (Indian/English), 2002.

As a dancer, she has gone to great lengths to share her passion with students at her Kalarpana school of dance in Chennai.

She is particularly known for her abhinaya, the clarity of line and strong rhythmic command of the idiom or more commonly known as the art of expression.

She founded the school in 1994 to organise yearly festivals throughout India.

This includes performances of national and global artistes to raise funds that will be given back in the form of training talented artistes who are financially dependent.

Her musical Maya Ravan is centred on the Indian epic Ramayana and has been staged close to 50 times around the globe.

The production is in English and India’s best artistes have lent their voices for the narration.

Actor Naseeruddin Shah, who has given critically acclaimed performances, is joined by Bollywood hearthrobs Jackie Shroff and Milind Soman.

Indian cinema beauties namely Tabu, Suhasini Maniratnam, Revathy and Rohini are also part of the narration team.

“After I wrote the script, I sent it to my colleagues and they decided to do the voice overs.

“It is not because of our friendship but it is the script itself,” she added.

Shobana, whose mother is a Penangite, is well versed in Malaysian culture and understands the people well.

“Malaysia is my second home. I have family members here in KL and we are close knit,” she added.

She believes the audience would be receptive to her musical production.

“Malaysians know good from average and they are avid followers of Indian cinema so I believe most of them would love it,” she said.

Her musical features young dancers from her own dance school who have been trained in the art of bharatnatyam. She has confidence in her pupils who underwent vigorous training to learn acting skills.

Her advice for budding young actors is to be totally focused and professional.

“It is all about observation and I urge them to travel, be well read and do it all so you can channel your personal view into the character,” Shobana adds.

The Maya Ravan musical will only be staged for one night on Aug 29 at 8.30pm at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Proceeds for the show will be donated to the Malaysian Association for the Blind.

Ticket prices are RM153, RM253, RM353 and can be bought at www.axcess.com.my or call 03-77115000. For more information, visit www.nichej.com.