Popular director and actor Devadas Kanakala passed away at a private hospital on Friday evening after a brief illness.
He was 74. He is survived by his son Rajiv Kanakala and daughter Sri Lakshmi. His wife Laxmi Devi, a famous character actress, died very recently.
Rajiv Kanakala is a popular actor in Tollywood, while his daughter-in-law Suma is a well-known television anchor and compere in various film functions.
Devadas began his career in films with K Vishwanath’s film O Seetha Katha in 1974. He also acted in nearly 30 films and directed a few films.
Born on July 30, 1945 at Kanakala village near Yanam, Devadas completed his graduation in AVN College, Visakhapatnam and studied theatre arts in Andhra University.
He worked for some time as a song and drama actor in Publicity Division of the Union ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
He was one of the few Telugu artistes who had studies in Film and Television Institute at Pune. He also worked as faculty in Adayar Film Institute and Madhu Film Institute, besides as head of the theatre arts department in Telugu University, Hyderabad.
Devadas carved a niche for himself in giving training for actors.
Several popular actors like Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, Rajendra Prasad, Subhalekha Sudhakar, Nazr, Pradeep Sakthi, Bhanuchander, Arun Pandyan, Rankee and Raghuvaran were trained under him.
Most of the present day television actors were the students of his film institute.
