Suma Kanakala (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Pallassana Paachuveettil; born on 22 March 1975) is an Indian television presenter, actress, and producer who predominantly works in Telugu television and cinema. She is widely recognized for hosting '' Star Mahila'', a game show on

ETV ETV may stand for: Television * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television application specification Africa * e.tv, South Africa * ETV (Ethiopia), Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation * ETV G ...

that holds the distinction of being India's longest-running TV game show, with a successful run of exactly 12 years.

Early life

Suma was born on 22 March 1975 in

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, into a

Malayali The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its south ...

Nair The Nair (, ) also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom hi ...

family. She is the only child of Pranavi Narayanan Kutty Nair and Pallassana Paachuveettil Vimala, born ten years after her parents' marriage. When she was six months old, the family moved to

Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

(now in

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

), due to her father's employment with the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. Suma spent her formative years in the

Lalaguda Lallaguda is a suburb of Secunderabad, India.Lallaguda Police Station
It is about 7 km from ...

and

Mettuguda Mettuguda is a neighbourhood in Secunderabad city in the Indian state of Telangana. Mettuguda is divided into three regions: Mettuguda, Alugadda Bbavi and New Mettuguda. These are divided by Mettuguda Y Junction. Hindu temples there include Te ...

areas of Secunderabad. She completed her education at St. Ann's High School in

Lalaguda Lallaguda is a suburb of Secunderabad, India.Lallaguda Police Station
It is about 7 km from ...

and

and pursued her undergraduate studies at Railway Degree College in Lalaguda.

Career

A presenter aged 16, she has hosted many Telugu film audio launches, film awards and functions. She is a

from

, but speaks

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

fluently. She has acted in various serial and telefilms since 1995, her breakthrough came with the boom in satellite channels. ''Swayamvaram'', ''

Anveshitha ''Anveshitha'' is an Indian Telugu-language supernatural drama that aired on ETV from 1997 to 1999. Written by Ilyas Ahmed and Jyotsna, and directed by Ilyas Ahmed under the pseudonym Pradyumna, the series was produced by Ramoji Rao. It premie ...

'', ''Geethanjali'', and ''Ravoyi Chandamama'' were her major dramas. She didn't have any interest in working in films. Suma's flagship show is '' Star Mahila'' on

, which attracted many female audiences. She created a record by this show becoming one of the longest running women game show in India. Suma started her own production house named K. Suma Rajeev Creations on 26 December 2012 and has produced a show named ''Lakku Kikku'' which was telecasted on

Zee Telugu Zee Telugu is an Indian Telugu-language general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 12 September 2004 as '' Alpha TV Telugu''. and was rebranded as ''Zee Telugu'' on 18 May 2005. The channel is owned by Zee Entert ...

. She also worked in a show named ''Genes'' on

. Her ''Kevvu Keka'' on

MAA TV Star Maa is an Indian Telugu-language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. It primarily telecasts programmes such as serials, reality shows and Telugu films. History ...

with co-star Mano and produced by K. Suma Rajeev Creations. Suma also sang "Suya Suya" song from the 2017 Telugu film ''

Winner Winner(s) or The Winner(s) may refer to: * Champion, the victor in a game or contest *The successful social class in winner and loser culture Film * ''The Winner'' (1926 film), an American silent film starring Billy Sullivan * ''The Winner'' ...

''. She is well known for her spontaneous and humorous remarks during her shows.

Personal life

She married Tollywood actor,

Rajeev Kanakala Rajeev Kanakala (born 13 November 1969) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu films Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu lang ...

on 10 February 1999 in Hyderabad. They have two children, Roshan Karthik Kanakala and Manaswini Kanakala. In addition to her mother tongue of

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, she is fluent in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

, and English.

Filmography

Film

Playback singer

*''

'' (2017) - "Suyaa Suyaa"

Television

Awards

* Nandi Award for Best TV Anchor 2010''Panchavataram'' * Limca Fresh Face Award 2009 * Local TV Media Awards Best AnchorStar Mahila (2010) * Cinegoer Award Best AnchorStar Mahila (2010) * Got placed in Limca Book of World Records for successful completion of '' Star Mahila''s 2000 episodes. * Apsara Awards 2018: Entertainer of the year

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanakala, Suma Indian women television presenters Living people Actresses in Malayalam cinema Indian film actresses Actresses from Kerala 1974 births Telugu television anchors 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Telugu television Actresses in Telugu cinema Indian game show hosts Indian soap opera actresses Indian television talk show hosts