HYDERABAD: She’s loquacious, humorous, spontaneous and ubiquitous on the small screen, not to forget a polyglot too. Suma Kanakala, one of the most sought-after TV anchors and comperes in town, is known to millions of viewers who tune in to watch her game shows every day.
Few are aware that Kanakala is an accomplished dancer and that she owes her success to dance. “As a dancer, one learns to express a variety of emotions. I would say being a dancer has helped me become what I am,” she says, crediting her mother Vimala and teachers for her success. Born at Palakkad in Kerala, Kanakala was brought up in Hyderabad as her father Narayan Kutty had to settle here due to his job.
Thanks to her mother, her training in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi began fairly early at St Ann’s High School. “I never had any stage fright and used to perform during Onam and other occasions in school,” she recalls.
Her early success could be measured from the fact that she was offered a role opposite Pradeep, a TV star in early 90s before the advent of cable TV, in a serial titled Pelli Chupulu on Doordarshan soon after her SSC exams. “I had opted for BiPC in my intermediate and joined the Railway Junior College at Tarnaka. I was a kind of celebrity there. Students and teachers alike would compliment my acting skills,” Kanakala says, going down memory lane. After Pelli Chupulu, there was no looking back for her. In the next five years till her graduation, she acted in 150 episodes.
Despite being busy, she was as diligent as the rest of her classmates. “I was a front-bencher. Though I had chosen BiPC stream, I did not dream of becoming a doctor. My parents too weren’t particular about EAMCET (common entrance test for engineering and medicine),” she explains.
Kanakala recalls that she did miss a number of classes due to her busy schedule as an actress. “My lecturers both at the junior and degree colleges were cooperative. The principal was considerate and would allow me to run off for shoots. I wasn’t a bad student. I passed in first division at all levels. In fact, it was pretty hectic for me — attending college all day and then, going for accountancy tuition. All this, besides acting in serials,” she narrates.
Recalling some of the memorable incidents of her days in college, she says, “I was a bit mischievous. I used to imitate my lecturers. Once I was caught red-handed by our lecturer. It was embarrassing but the funniest part was, he let me continue and joined in the fun.”
After graduating in commerce, she was bent on pursuing chartered accountancy, “But one of my lecturers advised me to study MCom,” she reckons. And, Suma did complete her master’s in commerce through the Osmania University’s distance education programme. Kanakala received offers from Tollywood too. “I got offers after my first stint in Doordarshan. But I consciously stayed away from films because I thought it wasn’t my cup of tea. I was happy with my career in TV,” she says.
After her graduation, however, she did act in her first film, titled Kalyana Praptirastu under the direction of Dasari Narayana Rao and subsequently, went on to star in seven films. “But it was never my priority,” clarifies Suma who won two Nandi awards for best action in TV serials.
She is married into a family of actors — her husband Rajiv Kanakala is an actor in his own right in Tollywood as is her father-in-law Devadas Kanakala. Rajiv and Suma are proud parents of two children and true to her nature, Suma is getting her little girl trained in music and dance.
-- tkchakravarthi@gmail.com