Suma Kanakala marks 25 years as a film event host, five years of Festivals For Joy

When Suma Kanakala, the most sought after host for film events in Hyderabad, settles down in her home for this interview amidst a packed itinerary, it is business as usual. The conversation flows with ease, like it often does when she hosts live events.

“When I began my television career, a famous personality told me that I need to watch out so as to not get saturated. Here I am, 36 years since I began my career in television and 25 years after I began hosting. I still remain curious and excited,” says Suma.

October 2026 marks two milestones for her. Suma recently completed 25 years as a host, anchoring stage events since SS Rajamouli’s 2001 film Student No.1. And, on October 24, she will mark the fifth anniversary of Festivals For Joy (FFJ), an initiative she founded, through an event in Hyderabad.

“Many are not aware of FFJ. I wanted to do some substantial work before I could discuss it in the media. In the last five years, we have been able to support underprivileged students in education, enable livelihoods for survivors of trafficking and transgender women, empower rural women entrepreneurs, help with healthcare programmes, improve Anganwadi facilities, and contribute to the welfare of senior citizens and persons with disabilities,” Suma explains.

Before discussing FFJ, the conversation centres on her packed calendar as a host. There are times when she does not have the dates requested by film teams for their audio launches or pre-release events. She politely recommends other anchors, often only to be told by film teams that they would alter their dates to fit her schedule. “A team member of a leading actor told me that an anchor is as important as the cast of a movie. He said that when they have a premium product, they look for people who can communicate the essence of the film to the target audience. That was a new perspective for me.”

Her signature style as a host involves humour-laced conversations that seem spontaneous, but Suma reveals that all of them are backed by research. She explains with the Telugu trailer launch for Ramayana, which she recently anchored in Hyderabad. “I had not interacted with director Nitish Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra earlier. As an anchor, I needed to be armed with details of their work, the awards they have won, their collaborators, the making of this film, the distributors, and so on.” She may not have to use all the background material on stage, but the knowledge helps. “On the same day, I interviewed the team, including Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sai Pallavi, Rakul Preet Singh, and Ravi Dubey. That cannot be done without knowing the facts.”

On occasions, some of these facts she gathers come in handy to add an element of surprise. For example, she mentioned how Namit Malhotra had been away from India for 14 years, before returning to make Ramayana, as though he had ended his “vanavas”.

Crisis management

There are occasions when her homework helps tide over crisis situations, like it did during the teaser launch of SS Rajamouli’s Varanasi. The event, held last November, is spoken about to this day in film circles. When the team faced an unexpected issue with the screening of the teaser, Suma gamely held conversations with Rama Rajamouli, Simha, and others, discussing the styling and other aspects of the film, not letting the entertainment quotient dip. Suma acknowledges the appreciation and says, “During the rehearsals, I was speaking to Rama garu about Mahesh (Babu) garu’s styling for the film, and I was also aware of Simha’s work, which came in handy.”

Suma now has a team, some of whom help with the homework and fact checking. “There is no scope for error on the stage,” she asserts, and adds, “But I also do not let the fear of a slip up come in the way of hosting an entertaining event.”

In the pre-internet era, she relied on industry insiders and journalists. “Writer Ram Prasad garu and journalist Hasam Raja were among my go-to people.”

If hosting cinema events still interests her, she credits it to her tendency to experiment and the willingness of the film industry to take her inputs. She could go dressed as a character from a film, for instance as Jayamma for Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna’s Ranabaali, or ask The Paradise team to put up a large crow-shaped prop in line with the film’s theme. “I am also not speaking lines written by someone else, which helps avoid monotony,” she adds.

Coming from a Malayalam-speaking family, Suma credits her mother’s encouragement for making her learn Telugu. “Had my mother told me that it wasn’t necessary to learn Telugu, I would not have been where I am today.”

The next move

When the conversation veers towards how, over the course of time, she wanted to use her celebrity status to give back to society, she discusses how she founded FFJ as an NGO. “At home, I began by helping to educate my staff’s children. Soon, I wanted to do more as I realised how celebrities have both visibility and trust.”

FFJ, she says, celebrates major festivals such as Sankranti, Dasara, Deepavali, Christmas, and Ramzan, by extending help to those in need to brighten their lives. “The movement was built step by step, with several stakeholders coming on board.”

Suma says due diligence goes into designing each of the programmes, which are also documented on FFJ’s YouTube channel and website (festivalsforjoy.com).

This year, the organisation plans to train women from Telangana in professional cooking skills. “This will be a 45 to 60-day training course, to help women seeking employment. A few years ago we would not have thought that sari draping skills can help a lot of women get work, during events and weddings. Similarly, cooking is a skill we take for granted but with professional training, we can help women get better opportunities.”