| Suma Kanakala | |
| Birth Name: | Pallassana Paachuveettil Suma |
| Birth Date: | 22 March 1975 |
| Birth Place: | Palakkad, Kerala, India |
| Television: | Star Mahila |
| Children: | 2 |
| Years Active: | 1991present |
Suma Kanakala (née Pallassana Paachuveettil Suma; born on 22 March 1975) is an Indian actress, television presenter and producer who predominantly works in Telugu films and television. She is best known for hosting ETV's Star Mahilaa Telugu TV game show, which is the longest-running TV game show in India and ran for exactly 12 years.
Suma was born on 22 March 1975 in her native hometown of Palakkad, Kerala, India.[1] She was born to a Malayali orthodox Nair family and her parents are Pranavi Narayanan Kutty Nair and Pallassana Paachuveettil Vimala who were associated in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now in Telangana), India for a very long time because of the father's job transfer near Lalaguda & Mettuguda railways in Secunderabad. She studied at St. Ann’s high school near Tarnaka colony and completed her Degree from Railway Degree College in Lalaguda. Suma was born 10 years later after her parents’ marriage as the only child for them. After six months of her mother’s delivery, she along with her parents flew to Secunderabad where she was brought up near Lalaguda & Mettuguda railways.
She married Tollywood actor, Rajeev Kanakala on 10 February 1999 in Hyderabad. They have two children, Roshan Karthik Kanakala and Manaswini Kanakala.[2] [3] In addition to her mother tongue of Malayalam, she is fluent in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, and English.
A presenter aged 16, she has hosted many Telugu film audio launches, film awards and functions. She is a Malayali from Kerala, but speaks Telugu fluently. She has acted in various serial and telefilms since 1995, her breakthrough came with the boom in satellite channels. Swayamvaram, Anveshitha, Geethanjali, and Ravoyi Chandamama were her major dramas. She didn't have any interest in working in films.
Kanakala's flagship show is Star Mahila on ETV, which attracted many female audiences.[4] She created a record by this show becoming one of the longest running women game show in India. Kanakala 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. She also worked in a show named Genes on ETV. Her Kevvu Keka on MAA TV with co-star Mano and produced by K. Suma Rajeev Creations. Kanakala also sang "Suya Suya" song from the 2017 Telugu film Winner. She is well known for her spontaneous and humorous remarks during her shows.[5]
| 1996 | Kalyana Praapthirasthu | Telugu | [6] | |
| 1997 | Newspaper Boy | Sita | Malayalam | |
| Ishtadanam | Anitha Varma | |||
| 1998 | Oro Viliyum Kathorthu | Subhadra | ||
| Pavitra Prema | Swapna | Telugu | ||
| 2000 | Chala Bagundi | Vijayalakshmi | ||
| 2001 | Pandanti Samsaram | |||
| Kalisi Naduddam | Vijaya's friend | |||
| 2002 | Raghava | |||
| Joruga Husharuga | Kanchana's sister | |||
| 2004 | Varsham | Venkat's sister | ||
| Swarabhishekam | News reporter | |||
| 2005 | Premikulu | Herself | ||
| 2007 | Dhee | Shankar Goud's henchman's wife | ||
| 2013 | Baadshah | Herself | ||
| 2019 | Oh! Baby | TV Anchor (only on television) | ||
| 2022 | Jayamma Panchayathi | Jayamma |
| 1994–1995 | DD National | Hindi | |||
| 1997–1999 | Anveshitha | Clara | ETV | Telugu | |
| Matti Manishi | |||||
| Veyi Padagalu | |||||
| Swayamvaram | |||||
| Geetanjali | |||||
| 2007–2021 | Star Mahila | ETV | Two seasons | ||
| Avakayyara | Host | MAA TV | [7] | ||
| Lady Boss | |||||
| Pattukunte Pattu Cheera | Teja TV | ||||
| Panchavataram | TV9 | ||||
| Bhale Chance Le | MAA TV | ||||
| Lakku Kikku | Zee Telugu | Also producer | |||
| Gemini Puraskaaralu | Gemini TV | Television special | |||
| Kevvu Keka | MAA TV | ||||
| 2012–2013 | CineMAA Awards | Television special | |||
| Swarabhishekam | ETV | ||||
| Soundarya Lahari | |||||
| Pelli Choopulu | Star Maa | ||||
| Genes | ETV | Two seasons | |||
| E Junction | ETV Plus | ||||
| 2017 | Bigg Boss 1 | Inspection officer | Star Maa | ||
| Connexion | Host | ||||
| Sell Me The Answer | |||||
| Wife Chethilo Life | |||||
| 2018 | Pelli Choopulu | [8] | |||
| Sixth Sense | Contestant | ||||
| 2019 | F3 – Fun, Family & Frustration | Host | |||
| 2018 | Apsara Awards | Zee Telugu | Television special | ||
| Big Celebrity Challenge | Season 3 | ||||
| 2019 | 8th SIIMA 2019 | Gemini TV | Television special | ||
| 2020–2021 | House of Hungama | Designer Devi | Star Maa | ||
| 2019–2022 | Cash | Host | ETV | Two seasons | |
| 2020 | All Is Well | ||||
| 2021 | Start Music | Aha | Season 3 | ||
| 2023–present | Suma Adda | ETV |
Entertainer of the year