Kanaka Mahalakshmi, mononymously known as Kanaka , is a South Indian film actress. She was considered one of the leading actress in the Tamil film industry. She is a daughter of the actress Devika

Devika

Devika or Prameela Devi was a popular Tamil and Telugu actress. She is regarded as a versatile and graceful heroine of her era. She was known for her natural beauty which was the key in her casting in mythological films like Karnan, thiruvilaiyadal...

.

Personal

Kanaka and her younger sister Saradha Preetha were born to Devadoss and the famous actress Devika

Devika

Devika or Prameela Devi was a popular Tamil and Telugu actress. She is regarded as a versatile and graceful heroine of her era. She was known for her natural beauty which was the key in her casting in mythological films like Karnan, thiruvilaiyadal...

. In 2007 she married an engineer from the U.S.

Career

She started her career as the heroine in Karakattakaran (1989), a movie based on the Tamil rural dance Karakattam

Karakattam

Karakattam is an ancient folk dance of Tamil Nadu performed in praise of the rain goddess Mariamman. The performers balance the water pot on their head very beautifully...

, along with Tamil film stars Ramarajan

Ramarajan

Ramarajan is a Tamil film actor who is specialised in acting films on village-based subjects. He is also known as Makkal Nayagan. He was called as the Box Office Emperor in the late eighties. He is known for his yellow colour shirts and colourful costumes and He was even called as rural...

, Goundamani

Goundamani

Goundamani is a Tamil film actor, comedian and screen icon. He is considered as the greatest comic actor in Kollywood and is renowned for his alliance with fellow actor Senthil.-Early Life:...

 and Senthil. It was a blockbuster movie which ran more than a year. Kanaka acted in many Tamil movies, including Adisiya Piravi (1991), Periya Veetu Pannakaran, Periya Kudumbum and Samundi. She starred with many major stars like Rajnikanth, Prabhu, Karthik, Vijayakanth, SarathKumar, etc.

She also starred in a few Telugu

Telugu language

Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

 and Malayalam movies with major stars like Mammootty

Mammootty

Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

 and Mohanlal

Mohanlal

Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...

. Her Malayalam debut, Godfather

Godfather (1991 film)

Godfather is a 1991 Malayalam musical comedy film written and directed by Siddique-Lal, and produced by Appachan. The film stars a huge cast consisting of Mukesh, N. N. Pillai, Kanaka, Jagadish, Innocent, Thilakan, Philomina, Siddique, K. P. A. C...

, was an all-time hit movie in Kerala, and ran for 434 days.

Filmography

Year	Film	Language	Role	Co-Star
1989	Karakattakaran	Tamil	Kamakshi	Ramarajan
1989	Thangamana Rasa	Tamil		Ramarajan
1990	Vallu jadda Thodu Beltu	Telugu		Rajendra prasad
1990	Periya Veetu Pannakaran	Tamil	Chella Meena	Karthik
1990	Ethir Katru	Tamil		Karthik
1990	Makkal Kural Makkal Kural Makkal Kural is a Tamil daily newspaper, started in 1973 by M. Shanmugavel.This evening paper was famous for its explosive stand against Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam rule in Tamil Nadu at that time. The firebrand editorials of Shanmugavel and TRR were historic at that time. On seeing the popularity...	Tamil		Arjun
1990	Athisaya Piravi Athisaya Piravi Athisaya Piravi is a 1990 Tamil film starring Rajinikanth, Nagesh and Kanaka and music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The film was directed by SP. Muthuraman...	Tamil	Gowri	Rajnikanth
1990	Vellaiya Devan	Tamil		Ramki
1990	Purushan Enakku Arasan	Tamil		Pandiarajan
1990	Durga	Tamil	Kannamma	Nizhalkal Ravi
1990	Amman Kovil Thiruvizha	Tamil		Nizhalkal Ravi
1990	Saaththaan Sollai Thattaathe	Tamil		Pandiyan
1991	Kumbakarai Thangaiah	Tamil	Mangamma	Prabhu
1991	Thalattu Kekkuthamma	Tamil		Prabhu
1991	Godfather Godfather (1991 film) Godfather is a 1991 Malayalam musical comedy film written and directed by Siddique-Lal, and produced by Appachan. The film stars a huge cast consisting of Mukesh, N. N. Pillai, Kanaka, Jagadish, Innocent, Thilakan, Philomina, Siddique, K. P. A. C...	Malayalam	Malu	Mukesh
1991	Seetha	Tamil	Seetha	Raghuman
1991	Senthoora Devi	Tamil		Vivek
1992	Vasudha	Malayalam		Saikumar
1992	Ezhara Ponnana	Malayalam	Ashwathi	Jayaram
1992	Samundi	Tamil		Sarath Kumar
1993	Kovil Kalai	Tamil	Arasaayi	Vijayakanth
1993	Thaalikattiya Rasa	Tamil		Murali
1993	Sakkarai Devan	Tamil		Vijayakanth
1993	Kilipechu Ketkava	Tamil	Sivagami	Mammooty
1993	Vietnam Colony Vietnam Colony Vietnam Colony is a 1992 Malayalam film written and directed by Siddique-Lal . With Mohanlal, Innocent, Kanaka and K. P. A. C. Lalitha appearing in lead roles, this film was a huge hit in theatres.-Plot:...	Malayalam	Unnimol	Mohanlal
1993	Golanthara Vartha Golanthara Vartha Golanthara Vartha is a 1993 family film written by Sreenivasan, directed by Sathyan Anthikad, and starring Mammootty, Shobana, Sreenivasan and Kanaka in major roles.-Plot:The film revolves around an active social worker, Rameshan Nair...	Malayalam		Mammooty
1994	Vardhakya Puranam	Malayalam		Manoj K. Jayan
1994	Pingami Pingami Pingami is a 1994 Malayalam film directed by Sathyan Anthikkad and produced by Mohanlal under the banner of Pranavam Arts.-Plot:...	Malayalam	Sridevi	Mohanlal
1994	Jallikattu Kaalai	Tamil		Prabhu
1995	Sakthivel	Tamil		Selva
1995	Periya Kudumbam	Tamil	Jyothi	Prabhu
1995	Mangala Soothram	Malayalam		Murali
1995	Kusruthikaatu	Malayalam	Indira	Jayaram
1996	Kattapanchayathu	Tamil		Karthik
1997	Mannadiar Penninu Chenkotta Checkan	Malayalam	Archa	Mukesh
1997	Bhoopathi	Malayalam	Lakshmi	Suresh Gopi
1998	Manthri Kochamma	Malayalam		Prem Kumar
1999	Veeralukketha Veekam	Tamil	Malu	Vivek
2000	Narasimham Narasimham Narasimham can mean the following:* Chilakamarthi Lakshmi Narasimham was an Indian playwright and novelist.* Narasimha, a Hindu God*Narasimham , a 2000 Malayalam movie starring Mohanlal...	Malayalam	Indulekha	Mohanlal
2001	Simha Rasi	Tamil		Sarath Kumar

External links