{{Infobox actor
| name     = Shoban Babu
| image    = Sobhan Babu.JPG
| imagesize = 
| birthname   = Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao
| birthdate   = 
| birthplace  = Nandigama, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, India
| deathdate   = 
| deathplace  = Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
| parents    = Surya Narayana , Rama Thulasamma
| residence   = Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India}}

'''Sobhan Babu''' (January 14 1937 &ndash; March 20 2008), professionally and popularly known as '''Shoban Babu''', was a Tollywood film actor. 

Born as '''Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao''' to a middle-class family, Sobhan went on to become a romantic icon and was the top Tollywood hero for two decades. He made his film debut with ''Daivabalam'' directed by Vasanthkumar Reddy, but his first film to hit the screens was ''Bhakta Sabari''.

Shobhan's ''Manushulu Maarali'' ran for 25 weeks, a record-breaking achievement in those days. He received the Filmfare Award four times, the Nandi Award five times and the AP Cine Goers Award eight times.

==Background==
The son of Uppu Suryanarayana Rao, Babu had three sisters Dhanaranga, Jhansi and Nirmala, and a brother, Sambasiva Rao. 

Babu completed his initial schooling in Kuntamukkula Mylavaram.  He pursued his Intermediate in Vijayawada and finished his degree at Andhra-Christian College in Guntur. Later, he studied law in Chennai, but ultimately discontinued it. 

He married Shanta Kumari on 15 May 1958; they had a son, Karuna Seshu and three daughters: Mrudula, Prashanti and Nivedita. 

Babu's first film was ''Bhakta Sabari''.  Chitrapu Narayana Murthy was his first director.  His film ''Manushulu Maarali'' ran for 25 weeks which was a record at that time.  His first colour film was ''Kannavari Kalalu''.For the first time he went abroad for a film shooting for Ramudu-Parasuramudu. He made a dual role in Potti Pleader for the first time. 

He was honored with several movie credits .

During the 1970's he was also the lover of Jayalalitha who later went on to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.  In reply to a report in a 1978 issue of the Bombay-based Star and Style magazine, implying that she and Shobhan Babu had parted ways, Jayalalitha confirmed that the relationship was strong and they were "going steady".

Unconfirmed reports and friends-later-turned-enemies like Valampuri John have insisted that Jayalalitha had a daughter named Shobhana, who was born of this liaison with Shobhan Babu

==Career==
Sobhan Babu made his debut in the film ''Daivabalam''. <ref>[http://www.telugucinema.com/tc/stars/interview_sobhanbabu_2007.php Background] </ref> After that he acted in many films playing small roles.

'''Shobhan Babu''' (bürgerlicher Name: ''Uppu Sobhanachalapathi Rao''; Distrikt Krishna, Andhra Pradesh; † 20. März 2008 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu) war ein indischer Schauspieler des Telugu-Films. Er spielte in mehr als 200 Filmen.

Shobhan Babu studierte Naturwissenschaft und Recht. Sein Filmdebüt hatte er 1960 in ''Bhakta Shabari'' von Ch. Narayanamurthy. Er spielte zunächst in mythologischen Filmen: Lakshmana in N. T. Rama Raos ''Seeta Rama Kalyanam'' (1961), Abhimanyu in ''Nartansala'' (1963) von K. Kameshwara Rao und ''Veer Abhimanyu'' (1965), seinem ersten Solo-Hit. Bereits Mitte der 60er Jahre übernahm er zunehmend Rollen in Action-Filmen, wie in ''Googachari 116'' (1966) mit G. Krishna als Hauptrivalen. Großen Erfolg hatte er auch mit ''Manasulu Marali'' (1969). Obwohl er dann hauptsächlich in Macho-Rollen auftrat, kehrte mit Bapus ''Sampoorna Ramayanam'' (1971) noch einmals ins Genre des mythologischen Films zurück.

Mit der Schauspielerin Sharada war er 15 Jahre lang ein Filmpaar in romantischen Dramen. Wichtige Rollen spielte Shobhan Babu auch in ''Nindu Hridayalu'' (1969) und ''Sharada'' (1973) (beide von K. Vishwanath) und als Aristokrat in ''Balaram Krishnudu'' (1992). 1997 zog er sich aus dem Filmgeschäft zurück und lebte dann in Chennai. Er starb an einem Herzinfarkt.

Shobhan Babu erhielt zahlreiche Auszeichnungen, darunter vier Filmfare Awards South, fünf Nandi Awards und acht Andhra Pradesh Cine Goers Awards (davon 1970 bis 1975 sechs Mal in Folge).