Shoba

For other people name Shoba, see Shoba (name).

Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha (23 September 1962 – 1 May 1980), was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1979 Tamil film Pasi. She also received three Kerala State Film Awards: for Best Actress (1978), Best Supporting Actress (1977) and Best Child Artist (1971); and two Filmfare Awards South for Best Actress in Kannada (1978) and Tamil (1979) films. Considered one of the finest talents to have emerged in the Indian film world, her promising career was unexpectedly cut short as she committed suicide in 1980, for unknown reasons. Her popularity resulted in considerable public scrutiny of the events that led to her death and also various conspiracy theories.^[3] The 1983 Malayalam film Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback is supposedly based on her life and death.

Shobha
Shobha from the film Moodu Pani (1980)[1]
Born	Mahalakshmi Menon (1962-09-23)23 September 1962
Died	1 May 1980(1980-05-01) (aged 17)[2] Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Cause of death	Suicide by hanging
Other names	Shoba Mahendra, Urvashi Shoba,[2] Baby Mahalakshmi, Baby Shoba
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1965–1980
Spouse	Balu Mahendra ​ (m. 1978)​
Mother	Prema

Born to Malayali parents in Madras, she started her career in the Tamil film industry, making her debut as a child artist in Thattungal Thirakkappadum (1966). Her first film as the main lead actress was in the 1978 Malayalam film Uthrada Rathri.

Early life

Shoba was born on 23 September 1962, to K. P. Menon and Prema Menon – an actress credited by the mononym Prema, in the Malayalam film industry, from 1954 to 1981.^[4]

Career

In 1966, Shoba made her screen debut in Tamil thriller film Thattungal Thirakkappadum directed by actor J. P. Chandrababu. In the film she was credited as Baby Mahalakshmi where she played the role of Lakshmi opposite actress Savitri, K. R. Vijaya, R. S. Manohar and Chandrababu himself.^[5][6] The following year she made her debut in Malayalam cinema in P. Venu's Udhyogastha, where she was credited as Baby Shoba. The film has been touted as the first "multi-starrer" of Malayalam cinema, with such top actors as Sathyan, Prem Nazir, K. P. Ummer, Padmini, Sharada, Sheela and Rajasree;^[7] the huge hit, in a film targeted to all ages, brought Shoba wide attention as a child actor.^{[citation needed]}

In 1978 she was cast as a heroine in Uthrada Rathri, a film directed by Balachandra Menon. She received the Kerala government's Best Actress award for the 1978 films Bandhanam and Ente Neelakaasham. The same year she earned the Best Actress award by Filmfare for the Kannada cinema film Aparichita. In 1979 she received the National Award for Best Actress for the Tamil film Pasi, which was produced by Lalitha, the eldest of the Travancore sisters. She also received the Filmfare Best Actress award for Pasi and received the Second Best Actress award from the Kerala government in 1977 for the film Ormakal Marikkumo.

Death

Shobha is alleged to have committed suicide by hanging at the age of 17.^[8][9] She was married to Balu Mahendra. The 1983 Malayalam film Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback directed by K. G. George is loosely based on her life and death.^[10]

Filmography

Malayalam films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Jeevithayaathra
1966	Karuna
	Penmakkal
1967	Ollathumathi
	Udhyogastha
	Pareeksha
1968	Kadal
	Adhyapika
	Aparadhini
1969	Kuruthikkalam
	Veettumrugam
1971	Avalalpam Vaikippoyi
	Yogamullaval
	Sindooracheppu	Ammalu
	Makane Ninakku Vendi	Young Sophia
1972	Taxi Car	Baby Shobha
	Gandharavakshetram	Young Lakshmi
	Aradimanninte Janmi	Minikutty
1973	Udayam	Young Geetha
	Bhadradeepam	Lekha
1974	Ayalathe Sundari	Shobha
	Night Duty	Ammini
1975	Ayodhya	Shanthi
1976	Chottanikkara Amma
	Amrithavaahini	Rani
1977	Dweepu
	Ormakal Marikkumo	Ammini/Parvathi
	Nurayum Pathayum
	Rajaparambara
1978	Pad–aram	Shoba
	Randu Penkuttikal
	Vayanadan Thamban
	Uthrada Rathri
	Oolkatal	Reena
	Ekakini
	Bandhanam	Thankam
1979	Lillyppookkal
	Ishtapraaneshwari	Rema
	Ente Neelakaasham	Malathy
1980	Shalini Ente Koottukari	Shalini
	Daaliya Pookkal
	Soorya Daaham
	Yovvanam Daham
	Manju Moodal Manju

Tamil films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Naanal		Child artist
1966	Thattungal Thirakkappadum		Child artist
1969	Iru Kodugal	Shoba	Child artist
1971	Punnagai
1974	Vairam	Usha
1978	Achchani
	Nizhal Nijamagiradhu	Thilagam
	Oru Veedu Oru Ulagam	Gowri
	Mullum Malarum	Valli
1979	Veetuku Veedu Vasappadi
	Oru Vidukadhai Oru Thodarkadhai	Kamala Typist
	Enippadigal	Chella Kannu
	Chakkalathi	Panchali
	Agal Vilakku	Navaneetham
	Azhiyatha Kolangal	Indumathi
	Pasi	Kuppamma
1980	Veli Thandiya Velladu
	Ponnagaram	Bhavani	Released posthumously
	Samanthipoo	Sakthi	Released posthumously
	Moodu Pani	Rekha	Released posthumously
1981	Mayil		Released posthumously
	Vaadagai Veedu		Released posthumously
	Anbulla Athan		Released posthumously

Kannada films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Kokila	Kokila
1978	Aparichita	Kusuma
1982	Amara Madhura Prema		Released posthumously

Telugu films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Tharam Marindi	Chenna
1978	Manavoori Pandavulu	Sundari

Awards

National Film Awards^[8]

• 1979 – National Film Award for Best Actress for Pasi

Filmfare Awards South

• 1978 – Filmfare Best Kannada Actress Award for Aparichita
• 1979 – Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for Pasi

Kerala State Film Award^[11]

• 1971 – Best Female Child Artist for Yogammullaval and Aval Alpam Vaikippoyi
• 1977 – Second Best Actress for Ormakal Marikkumo
• 1978 – Best Actress for Ente Neelakasham