Comedian Venu Madhav passes away at 39

Ch Sushil Rao / TNN / Updated: Sep 26, 2019, 10:31 IST

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Movies were exactly not on the mind of mimicry artiste Venu Madhav, but a stage performance at Ravindra Bharathi in the city earned him an unexpected role in Telugu films in 1996. Not only did Venu fall in love with the screen, but the audience too loved his performances and there was no turning back.

A file photo of actor Venu Madhav

HYDERABAD: Movies were exactly not on the mind of mimicry artiste Venu Madhav, but a stage performance at Ravindra Bharathi in the city earned him an unexpected role in Telugu films in 1996. Not only did Venu fall in love with the screen, but the audience too loved his performances and there was no turning back. After having acted in over 160 films in the last 23 years, 39-year-old Venu breathed his last at a hospital in Secunderabad on Wednesday. The actor, who was from Kodad in Nalgonda, was suffering from kidney and liver ailments.

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The Telugu film industry and cinema lovers went into shock at the passing away of an actor whose very presence on the screen would have them in splits. Venu’s attempts to become a hero may not have taken off but love for his work only grew. While several heroes faded away, the actor from Kodad in Suryapet of Telangana, became a permanent fixture in many films. Venu, one of the few actors from Telangana who became a popular figure, also dabbled in politics with his association with TDP. Venu, who was a well-known mimicry artiste, entered the film industry through the film ‘Sampradayam’ directed by S V Krishna Reddy, which was released in 1997. He also produced a film titled ‘Premabhishekam’ playing the lead role in it. His other films include ‘Toli Prema’, ‘Dil’, ‘Laxmi’, ‘Simhadri’, ‘Chathrapathi’ and his last film was ‘Rudramadevi’. Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, AP CM Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu, TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy were among those who condoled Venu Madhav’s death. Venu Madhav won the best comedian Nandi award of the AP government.

About the Author

Ch Sushil Rao

Sushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyderabad. He began his journalism career at the age of 20 in 1988. He is a gold medalist in journalism from the Department of Communication and Journalism, Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad from where he did his post-graduation from. He has been with The Times of India’s Hyderabad edition since its launch in 2000. He has also done an introductory course in film studies from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and also from the Central University of Kerala equipping himself with the knowledge of filmmaking for film criticism. He has authored four books. In his career spanning 34 years, he has worked for five newspapers and has also done television reporting. He was also a web journalist during internet’s infancy in the mid 1990s in India. He covers defence, politics, diaspora, innovation, administration, the film industry, Hyderabad city and Telangana state, and human interest stories. He is also a podcaster, blogger, does video reporting and makes documentaries.

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