From Coronation Street's corner shop to the exotic world of Indian dancing, it's a giant cultural leap that actress Shobna Gulati takes in her stride, as JENNY SCOTT discovered. . .

HER dating dilemmas and her inability to find the right man have kept soap viewers hooked and made her one of television's most endearing characters.

And in the process she's become part of an exciting new wave of talented Asians who are making a name for themselves on prime time television.

Now Shobna Gulati -- known to millions as Coronation Street's lovelorn shopgirl Sunita Parekh -- is set to take to the stage in a true-life story of an Indian dancer who broke all the rules.

But first she's more than happy to talk through the twists and turns of her character's faltering love life since her dramatic arrival in the Street two-and-a-half years ago.

"I call her Ally Mc-Sunita," laughs Shobna, 31. "She should be the next Bridget Jones."

Perhaps, but at the moment there doesn't seem to be a Mark Darcy in sight.

After a brief and bizarre fling with Rovers landlord Dougie, everything went quiet on the romance front before Sunita's womanising boss and long-term heart-throb Dev (Jimmi Harkishin) returned from a spiritually-enlightening trip to India and proposed marriage.

Startled by the sudden intensity of such avowals from a man who'd never noticed her before, Sunita rebounded straight into the arms of Cieran, the Street's roguish Irishman and now the pair have set a date for a wedding that probably won't hold the happy ending Sunita hopes for.

"At the moment it's difficult to say if she's jealous or confused," says Shobna, who refused to reveal if the marriage will go ahead.

"Dev still doesn't appear to be dying of a broken heart and I think Sunita's a bit fed-up."

Nevertheless, Shobna is delighted with the way the character has developed following her arrival on the Street in an escape bid from an arranged marriage.

"She came in on this sensational storyline, that was quite controversial," recalls Shobna.

"I felt quite responsible for it and how it was going to be interpreted by 16 million people.

"So there I was. And since then this girl, who came in on what some people might say was quite a cliched plot line, has turned into a human being."

This is in no small part down to Oldham-born Shobna's own performance.

Her acting ability was honed in local theatre productions, before being spotted by no less a person than Victorian Wood, who gave Shobna her first big TV break in the hit sitcom Dinner Ladies.

As the sweetly dippy Anita, who was clearly a few fries short of the full chip supper, Shobna was winningly funny, spouting Wood's robustly Northern jokes alongside seasoned stars like Julie Walters and Celia Imrie.

"The way I was going to play Anita seemed to come about almost as I was doing the audition for Victoria," says Shobna.

"And then it became a really enjoyable role to play because the writing was so fantastic. Victoria's one of these people I call genius women and that's who you learn from.

"Last Sunday I was at the BAFTA tribute to Julie Walters. Just to be sitting there among her nearest and dearest was amazing. You learn from people like Julie and Celia Imrie. They're just fantastic actresses."

However, Shobna had already learned quite a lot about acting before she landed her Dinnerladies part. She claims: "I've always enjoyed being the one who tells the jokes -- I was a horribly precocious child. But as an emerging young actor I felt very isolated.

"Ten years ago there weren't the platforms for young people of colour. I started thinking, 'Can I approach these predominantly white institutions?'"

Fortunately though, Shobna found just the right avenue to direct her enthusiasms. Together with other young people from the Oldham area she founded Peshkar, a theatre initiative that put on their own plays about the local community.

Shobna says: "It wasn't just an Asian initiative. It was about the community that was present in Oldham at the time -- Irish, white, Barbadians. And within the term Asian we broke it down into Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, so that every voice was valid."

Within Peshkar's groundbreaking productions, Shobna learned about writing and traditional Indian dancing -- and the latter is a skill she has dusted off yet again for her role in Rani Moorthy's Dancing Within Walls which runs at Manchester's Contact Theatre until December 13.

The play tells the true-life story of dancer Rukmini Devi, who was one of 20th century India's most fascinating women. She made history by becoming the first high caste woman to dance on a public stage, married an Englishman and refused an offer to be President.

Shobna plays Rukmini's guru Yellama, who is forced to live as a prostitute.

She says: "Yellama is a fictional character who teaches Rukmini to dance. It's a wonderful character to play and I feel really excited about it.

"When do we really see period Indian dramas on stage? There's a lot of contemporary work, but not very many historical plays."

And does Shobna have any nerves about playing such an erotic, sensual role that's a world away from Sunita, stuck behind the counter of Corrie's corner shop?

She laughs: "I never go in there thinking, 'I can do it'. Part of me knows I can, the other part just wants to know how!"

Catch Shobna in Dancing Within Walls at Manchester's Contact Theatre until December 13. Call (0161) 2740600 for tickets.