Shobhana finds a Mitr in dance

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">When she won the National Award for Manichithrathazhu, she was ecstatic. It was a dream come true for an actress on the threshold of stardom. History has a way of repeating itself. And so it has this year. National Award No 2 has come in the form of Mitr, My Friend. But this time round, Shobhana is no longer in search of stardom — she is part of it.<br />‘‘This award is a recognition of the fact that I am still in sync with the film industry,’’ points out Shobhana, ‘‘But when I heard the news, I was obviously happy!’’ Recognition.A double-edged word for Shobhana. For, there is not only an actress in her, but a dancer too. ‘‘I have been dancing since I was two and a half years old and acting since I was nine,’’ she says, ‘‘I have grown up with both, they have become a part of me. So much so, it is impossible for me to play favourites.’’<br />A trained Bharatanatyam dancer, Shobhana the actress has two projects in the pipeline — Dance Like A Man and Glass Menagerie. But it is the dancer in her which seems to have stolen a march. In a unique performance uniting Bharatanatyam with the sarod, Shobhana will keep step to the melody of sarod artistes Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, the sons of sarod maestro Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan.<br />‘‘We will perform in Malaysia, the Ganesh festival in Pune, and Chennai. Music, after all, has no boundaries.’’ And neither does Shobhana. For, when she doesn’t have a dance performance and a spring in her step, she has a song on her lips in films!<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">vinodnair@indiatimes.com</span> </div> </div>