Veteran Malayalam actor, Nedumudi Venu passed away on October 10, 2021 at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram due to ill-health.

The actor was in fact, admitted to a hospital yesterday morning following uneasiness. Venu was in intensive care unit of a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. The actor had earlier afflicted with COVID-19. Although, he had recovered from the pandemic, nevertheless, his other ailments got aggravated resulting in his death. Nedumudi Venu was one of the most talented actors in Malayalam cinema. Known as Nedumudi Venu, the veteran actor’s official name is K. Venugopal, who completed 73 on May 22, 2021.

Actor par excellence

Nedumudi Venu is a versatile actor, who could take up any role with much ease. Also, there was no doubt, any character would stay safe with the genius, a fact that umpteen number of film directors will vouch for it. Nedumudi Venu has been shining in Malayalam cinema for over four decades as a hero, villain and as a character actor. Apart from acting, he has also written stories for a few films. Venu has also directed the Malayalam cinema, title: ‘Pooram,’ (festival).

Born on May 22, 1948 in Nedumudi, Alappuzha district to PK Keshavan Pillai and Kunjikutty Amma, K. Venugopal (Kesavan Venugopal) was active in cultural activities during his education. After graduating from SD College in Alappuzha, Venu worked as a journalist in ‘Kala Kaumudi’ and as a teacher in a parallel college in his district.

Venu is an acting genius who emerged in Kuttanad today as a disciple of Kavalam Narayana Panicker. As a leading actor in Kavalam’s Malayalam plays, Venu has performed in many venues. After moving to Thiruvananthapuram, he made friends with other great film makers such as the late G. Aravindan, M. Padmarajan and Bharat Gopi. This was the turning point for Venu to foray into the celluloid world.

Nedumudi Venu’s entry to the Malayalam movie horizon was when he was active in the theater. He made his film debut in 1978 with Aravindan’s Malayalam movie, ‘Thampu.’ The Bharathan-Padmarajan duo ‘Chellappanasari’ in ‘Thakara’ and Christian Vaidikan, a student in ‘Chamaram’, which came out in 1980, ensured that the actor had proved his meetle and became increasingly ‘popular’. Nedumudi Venu’s role in Bharathan’s ‘Aravam’ Was notable for his song “Mukutti Thiruthali …”. He played the role of Mesthiri in Padmarajan’s 1981 ‘Orudathoru Filevan’ and the orphan ‘Xavier’ in Mohan’s ‘Vidaparayum Munpe.’ After that there was no stopping for Venu.

Moving away from Protagonist roles

Nedumudi Venu has stepped down from the lead role in a few years due to various reasons …
Then, Venu took up character roles and as a co-star, all the roles he had taken up, he excelled, often overshadowing the heroes! This led to a step-by-step shift to ‘kaaranavar’ or veteran roles. He soon became one of the busiest co-stars in Malayalam, and his acting skills and variety of dialogues strengthened Nedumudi’s characters. A slew of movies, such as ‘Kallan Pavithran, ‘Appunni,’ ‘Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam,’ ‘Aranyakam,’ ‘His Highness Abdullah,’ ‘Bharatham,’ ‘Maargam,’….in all these movies, Nedumudi Venu had presented strong characters.

Nedumudi wrote stories for eight movies including ‘Kattethi Kilikoodu,’ ‘Oru Katha Oru Nunakkatha,’ and ‘Savidham.’ In addition to that, he has also directed the movie, Pooram. His popular films in Tamil includes, the Kamal Hassan starrer Indian and Vikram starrer Anniyan.

Awards Galore

In 1990, Nedumudi Venu bagged the National Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film His Highness Abdullah. In 2003, he received a special mention for the role he has had acted in the movie titled, Maargam. In 1981, 1987 and in 2003, Nedumudi Venu had won the Best Actor award from Kerala State Film Awards for his unforgettable role in movies such as Vida Parayum Munpe (1981), Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam (1987) and more awards came calling him.