Tollywood mourns as veteran actor Devadas Kanala passes away

The Telugu film industry mourned the loss of renowned theatre artiste, actor and filmmaker

Devadas Kanakala

, who passed away due to age-related illness at the age of 74 on Friday. Veteran actors such as Chiranjeevi, Rajendra Prasad and director Rajamouli, visited the actor’s family to offer their condolences. His last rites were performed at Mahaprasthanam on Saturday afternoon. He is survived by son Rajiv Kanakala and daughter-in-law Suma Kanakala, who are both well-known artistes.
Born in Kanakalapeta in Puducherry, Devadas graduated from AVN College, Visakhapatnam and did his Master’s in Theatre Arts from Andhra University. He was one of the few actors who completed a course at the prestigious Film and Television Institute in Pune.

A well-known acting guru, Devadas has groomed stalwarts such as Rajinikanth, Raghuvaran and Bhanuchander, apart from Chiranjeevi and Rajendra Prasad. Having started his career as a theatre artiste, Devadas was introduced as an actor in K Vishwanath’s O Seetha Katha in 1974. He then went on to act in over 30 films, and is known for his performances in films like Siri Siri Muvva (1978), Manchu Pallaki (1982), Gang Leader (1991), Manasantha Nuvve (2001) and Robot (2010). His last film was the Mahesh Babu-starrer Bharat Ane Nenu in 2018.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao also offered his condolences and said his death would leave a huge void in the film industry. Several personalities from Tollywood too mourned the veteran actor’s demise on social media.

‘My guru Devadas Kanakala trained thousands of artistes. I too am one among them. I pray to God to give strength to Rajiv Kanakala and his family to deal with this loss.’
— Manchu Manoj, actor

‘I cannot describe this loss. My master is no more, I wasn't just a disciple for him, he treated me like I was his own son. Most importantly, he would proudly tell everyone that I was his brightest student’ — Rajendra Prasad, actor

‘A great personality from our film industry #DevadasKanakala sir. We will miss him. May his soul rest in peace.’
— Rajasekhar, actor

A fine actor, acclaimed director and a guru to many successful actors...,Sri Devadas Kanakala garu is no more. My condolences to his family. His soul rest in peace
— Gopi Mohan, writer