CHENNAI: Though the actual reason for her alleged suicide is still under investigation, television and film artiste Shobana’s death on Monday has brought to sharp focus once again the emotional trauma actors in showbiz undergo.
It’s an irony that the life of the Meendum Meendum Sirippu actress was not as enjoyable as her comic roles. She was reportedly in a state of depression for the past few months and ended her life when she was alone at home. The TV and film industry is replete with instances of popular female artistes choosing to end lives as an escape route from emotional turmoil. From the 1970s, several cases abound of actress suicides, like Lakshmishree (1979), Shoba (1980), Phataphat Jayalakshmi (1980), Silk Smitha (1996), Viji (2001), and Pratyusha and Monal (2002). Almost all of them ended their lives by hanging.
And in the 2000s, with the soaring popularity of TV, the number of artistes committing suicide too shot up. Shalini S Kumar, Vaishnavi, Shraddha Vishwanath and V Charukesh were some of the small screen actors who chose to end their lives over alleged emotional turmoil. The spate of suicides had forced the film and TV industry heads to later organise counselling sessions for artistes. All that did not prevent Shobana from allegedly killing herself. She has been part of several films like Nagaram, Suraa, and her most popular role was as Vadivelu’s wife in Sillennu Oru Kaadhal.