MADHU MAILANKODY
Madhu Mailankody was the first anchor to go live on air after the Walt Disney owned Star India on December 29, 2018 launched Star Sports 1 Kannada, the country’s first and only dedicated Kannada sports channel.
Even before foraying into Star Sports, Madhu had established herself as a star anchor in Karnataka. She has hosted hundreds of events in the coastal city of Mangaluru. The desi girl’s lucid English, immaculate Kannada, chaste Hindi, friendly Malayalam, cordial Tulu and syrupy Tamil coupled with an affable body language always make her stand out from the rest.
Her multilingual and multicultural mastery makes her “an anchor sans borders” who can easily engage with diverse audience in almost all Indian states and beyond. She has won the applause of NRI audiences in Middle Eastern countries like United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.
Madhu shares a close bond with the word ‘League’. She entered Star Sports in 2017 as an anchor for Indian Super League (ISL), the most premium football league of the country and since then has been a part of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Premiere Badminton League (PBL) and the most popular Indian Premiere League.
She has also hosted the most prestigious ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, bilateral cricket series’ between various countries and tournaments of football like the Asia Federation Cup. Ever since she is the Prime face of Star Sports 1 Kannada for all sporting events.
Her entry to sports anchoring began with the Karnataka Premiere League (KPL) in 2015 as a ground MC and continued every season that followed. She was also the solo host for three seasons of Mangalore Premier League (MPL). Her voice as an announcer and host has increased the enthusiasm of 35,000 spectators at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru during various international cricket matches.
Madhu was born and brought up at ‘Mailankody’ in the pristine village of Perdala off Badiyadka town in Kasaragod district as the second daughter of Savithri G Bhat and M Ganapathi Bhat, who had opted agriculture after completing his post-graduation at a juncture when millions of rural Indians quit agriculture and migrated to towns and cities.
She became a ‘Manglurean’ after migrating to the port city to pursue college education. She is an alumna of St Agnes and St Aloysius, two of Mangaluru’s prestigious educational institutions. Though based out of Mangaluru, she is mostly at Mumbai and Bengaluru on work. However in her free time; Madhu is always available for events in Mangaluru.
