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Kanaka, once a blockbuster heroine now living in isolation, makes rare public appearance to meet a special co-star

After quitting the film industry, Kanaka has reportedly been living an isolated life, largely cut off from the world around her.

3 min readKochiJan 14, 2026 07:11 PM IST

Kanaka recently made a rare public appearance to meet someone who holds an important place in her cinematic journey. (Credit: Express archives, Instagram/@dharankumar_c)

Once a beloved star who made waves across South India, Kanaka is no longer in the limelight. However, unlike those who lost their prominence and were eventually forgotten, Kanaka’s story was different; it was she who bid adieu to Tinseltown while still at the top of her game. After calling it quits, she has reportedly been living an isolated life, largely cut off from the world around her.

Recently, Kanaka made a rare public appearance to meet a person who holds an important place in her cinematic journey; and it’s none other than actor Ramarajan, her first hero when she debuted in director Gangai Amaran’s Karakattakkaran (1989). Music composer Dharan Kumar was also present on the occasion and accompanied Kanaka to Ramarajan’s house. “When lunch turns into a walk down memory lane! Reminiscing 37 years of cinema with my sister Kanaga and Ramarajan sir,” he wrote while sharing a photo of the three of them on social media.

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A Tamil romantic comedy, Karakattakkaran was a major hit and catapulted Kanaka to stardom immediately. While the movie itself became a massive success, the track “Maanguyilae Poonguyile,” composed by music maestro Ilaiyaraaja for Karakattakkaran, became one of the most celebrated Tamil film songs of all time and is still celebrated even today.

Actor Ramarajan Kanaka Kanaka's first hero when she debuted in director Gangai Amaran's Karakattakkaran.

Kanaka and Ramarajan in Karakattakkaran. (Express archive photo)

Who is Kanaka and where is she now?

The great-granddaughter of Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu — widely regarded as the father of Telugu cinema — and the daughter of popular actor Devika, Kanaka soon began receiving many movie offers and did a handful of projects in Tamil in 1990. Her career truly peaked with her Malayalam debut in the director duo Siddique-Lal’s Godfather (1991), which became a massive blockbuster and ran for over 400 days in theatres, making it the longest-running Malayalam film of all time.

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She subsequently shared screen space with Mohanlal in Vietnam Colony, and worked with Mammootty in the Tamil movie Kilipetchu Ketkavaa and in the Malayalam film Golanthara Vartha. In a short career spanning just 11 years, she appeared in several notable movies across Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu languages, headlined by big stars, and left a lasting impression on the audience.

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A post shared by Dharan Kumar (@dharankumar_c)

She eventually quit cinema and now leads a secluded life in her Chennai home. In the late 2000s, reports had emerged claiming that Kanaka married a California-based engineer. However, in a 2010 interview, she reportedly revealed that her husband vanished merely 15 days after their wedding and has not been seen or heard from since.

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