Nedumudi Venu Wiki, Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Nedumudi Venu was an Indian actor and screenwriter who has worked in more than 500 films in Malayali and Telugu films, mostly as an actor and he has written a few films as well. On 11 October 2021, Nedumudi passed while receiving treatment for some liver-related ailments.

Wiki/Biography

Nedumudi Venu was born as Kesavan Venugopal on Saturday, 22 May 1948 (age 73 years; at the time of death) in Nedumudi, Travancore (now in Alappuzha, Kerala, India). His zodiac sign is Gemini. Nedumudi’s nickname is Venu, which was often used by the people to address him. He completed his schooling at NSS Higher Secondary School, Nedumudi, and then he attended St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School, Champakulam. He then went to S.D. College, Alappuzha, Kerala to earn his bachelor’s degree. [1]

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 6″

Hair Colour: Salt and pepper

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Parents & Siblings

Venu’s father’s name is P. K. Kesavan Nair, and he was a school teacher. His mother’s name is P. Kunjikkuttiyamma. He had four elder brothers.

Wife & Children

Venu got married to TR Susheela, and together they have two sons- Unni and Kannan.

Career

During his time in school and college, Nedumudi Venu had an interest in music and arts, and he wanted to pursue the field as his profession. Venu started working as a journalist with the weekly news magazine Kalakaumudi. He then became a teacher at a local coaching institute. Nedumudi was a Mridangam player which helped him in meeting various filmmakers and actors like Aravindan, Padmarajan, Bharath Gopi, and many others. This paved the path for his acting and film career and he started working as a theatre artist. In 1978, Nedumudi Venu made his debut in the Malayalam film industry with the movie ‘Thampu’ which was directed by G Aravindan. After the success of his first movie, he started getting more and more supportive actors roles in other movies like Aaravam (1978), Oridathoru Phayalwan (1981), Kallan Pavithran (1981), Vida Parayum Munpe (1981), etc. With his consistent performance, he proved his caliber and started getting lead roles in the movies. Nedumudi was known for his comic roles and his role of Major Nair in the 1984 comedy film Odaruthammava Aalariyam was appreciated by the audience. Apart from acting in movies, Nedumudi Venu also wrote movies and one such movie was Oru Kadankatha Pole (1993). In a career that lasted for more than forty years, Nedumudi had done more than 500 movies in different languages. His latest project was the Indian Malayalam-language epic historical war film ‘Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea’ or ‘Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham.’ The movie is written and directed by Priyadarshan, and the film stars many famous actors like Mohanlal, Suniel Shetty, Prabhu, Manju Warrier, and others.

Awards & Honours

National Film Awards

• Best Supporting Actor for His Highness Abdullah (1990)

• Special Jury Award for Margam (2003)

• National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Narration/Voice Over for Minukku (2006)

Asianet Film Awards

• Best Supporting Actor Award for Thanmatra (2005)

• Best Script Writer Award for Thaniye (2007)

• Best Supporting Actor for Elsamma Enna Aankutty (2011)

• Best Character Actor for North 24 Kaatham (2013)

• Best Villain for Oru Second Class Yathra, and Rudra Simhasanam (2015)

• Asianet Film Award for Lifetime Achievement (2017)

Filmfare Awards

• Filmfare Award for Best Actor for Vida Parayum Munpe (1981)

• Filmfare Award for Best Actor for Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam (1987)

• Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)

Kerala State Film Awards

• Second Best Actor for Chamaram (1980)

• Best Actor for Vidyaparayum Munpe (1981)

• Best Actor for Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam (1987)

• Special Jury Award for Bharatham, Santhwanam (1990)

• Second Best Actor for Thenmavin Kombath (1994)

• Best Actor for Margam (2003)

These are some of the awards that Nedumudi Venu had received in his lifetime for his various movies. He has many other awards like these.

Death

In 2021, Nedumudi was tested positive for coronavirus and he was admitted to the hospital from where he was discharged after complete recovery. However, he was getting treated for some liver ailment that occurred as a post-COVID-19 complication. On Sunday, 10 October 2021, he was rushed to KIMS Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, and on 11 October 2021, he took his last breath and passed away because of some liver complications.

Facts/Trivia

• In 2007, he was nominated and won the ‘Best Actor’ award at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival for the movie Saira (2006). This was the only Indian movie that was included in the festival from India.

• After the news of Venu’s death reached out, all the famous personalities of the film industry and from other parts of the country started tweeting, offering their regards and condolences to the family. The film star Prithviraj Sukumaran posted a picture of Nedumudi Venu on his profile with the text-

Farewell Venu uncle! Your body of work and your expertise over the craft will forever be research material for generations to come! Rest in peace legend! #NedumudiVenu pic.twitter.com/VzZ4LF49Nq

— Prithviraj Sukumaran (@PrithviOfficial) October 11, 2021

• Apart from the people of the film industry, many politicians also came forward to remember Venu and his work. During this, the prime minister of India Narendra Modi also posted a tweet on his Twitter and offered his condolences to the family.

Shri Nedumudi Venu was a versatile actor, who could fill life into diverse roles across many genres. He was also a prolific writer and was passionate about theatre. His passing away is a loss to the world of films and culture. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 11, 2021

• Apart from working the movies, Nedumudi Venu has also worked in some television series as well. He has also worked in Tamil movies as well like Indian (1996) and Anniyan (2005).

• In 2007, Nedumudi worked in an Indian drama film directed by Rajshree Ojha. The cast of the film consisted of Zeenat Aman, Roopa Ganguly, Soha Ali Khan, and Keira Chaplin as the lead characters of four different stories. The storyline of the film was based on four short stories written by the Hindi novelist Nirmal Verma. The shooting ended in 2007, however, the release of the movie was stalled due to financial issues. Later, in 2012, the movie was released by PVR Pictures and it received mixed reactions from the critics and the audience.