Kanaka (actress)

Kanaka Mahalakshmi, mononymously known as Kanaka, is a South Indian film actress.

Kanaka is the daughter of Tamil actress Devika and Devadas. In 2009 Kanaka married an engineer from the U.S.

There were rumours in the media (specially on social networking sites) of her death on 30 July 2013. She denied the rumours about her death.

She started her career as the heroine in Karakattakaran (1989), a movie based on the Tamil rural dance Karakattam, along with Tamil film stars Ramarajan, Goundamani and Senthil. It was a blockbuster movie which ran more than a year. Kanaka acted in many Tamil movies, including Athisaya Piravi (1991), Periya Veetu Pannakkaran, Periya Kudumbam and Samundi. She starred with many major stars like Rajinikanth, Prabhu, Karthik, Ramki, Raghuman, Ramarajan, Arjun, Murali, Pandiarajan, Pandian, Vijayakanth, and SarathKumar.

She also starred in a few Telugu and Malayalam movies with major stars like Mukesh Mammootty and Mohanlal. Her Malayalam debut, Godfather, was an all-time hit movie in Kerala, and ran for 414 days.

She has acted in more than 40 films in Tamil and Malayalam as leading lady. Her last Malayalam film was Ee Mazha Thenmazha (2001), while her last Tamil film was Viralukketha Veekkam (1999).