Her father suffered business losses, and she went to work as an air hostess to support her family, when she was discovered by a friend of film director C. V. Sridhar on a plane where he was a passenger, who later suggested her to C. V. Sridhar. Then he gave her the lead role in his film Kaadhalikka Neramillai in 1963 and changed her name to Kanchana, since there was already another actress named Vasundhara Devi, mother of star Vyjayanthimala. Kanchana acted in over 150 films – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, with a successful acting career. She had extremely successful career in Tamil films especially between 1964 and 1977 as lead heroine. Her critically acclaimed films include Kaadhalikka Neramillai, Thedi Vantha Thirumagal, Parakkum Paavai, Kodimalar, Adhey Kangal, Bama Vijayam, Naalum Therindavan, Thangai, Thulabaram, Ponnu Mappilai, Shanti Nilayam, Chella Penn, Uthiravindri Ulle Vaa, Vilaiyaattu Pillai, Sivanda Mann, Nyayam Ketkirom, Avalukendru Oru Manam, and Engalakkum Kaadhal Varum. She retired from films in the early 1980s. In 2005, she was presented with the MGR award and in 2007 the ANR Swarna Kankanam award. In Tamil, her pair with Ravichandran was the most famous with all their films - Adhey Kangal, Kadhalikka Neram Illai,Utharavindri Ullevaa, Kadhal Jyoti, Thedivandha Thirumagal and Naalum Therindavan being hits. She acted in some films with R. Muthuraman including Kaadhalikka Neramillai, Kodimalar, Thulabharam, Thangai, Bama Vijayam and Avalukendru Oru Manam. She also acted with [Sivaji Ganesan in Sivandha Mann, which was a blockbuster hit along with Vilayattu Pillai and Avan Oru Sarithiram. She did two films with MGR - Naan Yen Pirandhen and Parakkum Paavai as the second lead heroine of the film. Apart from that, she was paired with many Tamil heroes like A. V. M. Rajan, S. S. Rajendran, Gemini Ganesan, Jaishankar, Ravichandran and Sivakumar in Tamil. Her last film as lead heroine was Avan Oru Sarithiram in 1977 in Tamil and Babruvahana in Kannada in 1977. Her performances in the movies Pavitra Bandham, Manchivaadu were well appreciated and recognised. She played Uttara in the film Veerabhimanyu. The following year she acted in the Annapurna pictures film Aatma Gowravam with veteran director K. Viswanath. She acted with Krishnam Raju in some glamorous roles in Neeti Nijayitee, Parivartana , Nenante Nene and Dharma Daata. Not only in social roles, she acted some mythological roles in pictures likeShri Krishnavataram. After her retirement as a heroine, she acted in supporting roles acted in films such as Ananda Bhairavi, Shrimad Virat Veerabrahmendra Swami Charitra, Johnny and Mouna Ragam. There were rumours floating around a few years ago about her living in penury. A popular Tamil magazine, Kumudam, published a report that Kanchana was relying on the prasadam served at a temple. However, in a press release, Kanchana refuted all this with deep anguish. She cited her existing legal tangles as a reason for reluctance for not suing the magazine. Kanchana appeared in OLX commercial in 2015. Kanchana made her comeback to films when she acted in Arjun Reddy in 2017 as the grandmother.
Personal life
The actress later won back her properties in T. Nagar, Chennai of around 6 grounds, with the Court ruling against her parents. It was learnt that one day her father took signature of Kanchana on a white paper and without her knowledge converted total assets on his name. After a long legal battle she won and regained her wealth. Kanchana along with her sister Girija donated their property in Chennai worth then around Rs. 150 million to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams on 25 October 2010.
