Nedumudi Venu: Here are a few of his most popular Malayalam films!

Nedumudi Venu has left us, but like any gifted artiste, he leaves behind a treasure trove of movies and splendid performances in Malayalam, for us to remember him. Here are a handful of the most popular movies that his fans love:

1. His Highness Abdullah

Who can forget the lovable Udaya Varma Thampuran, and his famous dialogue, ‘Kollayirunnille’ (Couldn’t you kill me), which he asks his potential killer Abdullah, played by Mohanlal. The dialogue is still used extensively on social media as memes and more, and has made it an evergreen character.

2. Margam

The film, in which he plays

Venukumara Menon

, a formar militant who is the protagonist of the story, fetched Venu a Special Jury Mention at the National Awards.


3. Chamaram

In the movie that was considered one of the landmark films in Mollywood, portraying the love story of a student and his teacher, Venu played a student who is also a priest. The film also won him the Best Second Actor award at the Kerala state Film Awards.

4. Vidaparayum Munpe

The life of a man just before his death was memorably portrayed in this film by Venu, who also won the Kerala State Best Actor Award for his performance in it, in 1981. His portrayal of Xavier, a cancer patient, is still much discussed.

5. Bharatham

The musical, Bharatham, is remembered the most for the equation of the brothers played by Nedumudi Venu and Mohanlal. Venu’s character Kalloor Ramanathan, an alcoholic musician, even fetched him a Special Jury Award in 1990.

6. Thenmavin Kombath

Probably one of his most memorable characters, Sreekrishnan of Thenmavin Kombath, who secretly loves the girl Karthumbi, is a role that Venu rocked in the real sense of the word. Sreekrishnan’s antics to win over Karthumbi to those sequences in which the evil in him is revealed were all a treat for the viewers to watch. The movie also won Venu the Kerala State Second Best Actor award in 1994.

7. Vinodayathra

The retired cop John Mathew, who is instrumental in teaching the film’s lead character Vinod a handful of life lessons, offered the audience many moments of laughter. The hilarious exchanges between Vinod and Johan Mathew are still popular video clips on social media platforms, and are even used as memes often.



8.

Thanmathra

As the father of an Alzheimer’s Patient, Venu showcased the emotions of an elderly man in the predicament quite memorably in the film. Thanmathra again won Venu a couple of awards and it is one of his characters that still move many to tears.


9. Midhunam

‘Thenga udakku swami’ is still a line that is used in casual conversations, asking people to make their points clear. While the line in itself was delivered by Jagathy Sreekumar’s character, the funny Swami played by Venu, who outperformed everyone through his short role, is much-remembered.


10. Panchavadi Palam

The crooked Shikhandi Pillai, who sets the whole story of the film rolling, is much remembered for his one-liners like ‘Aadyam Paalam Apakada Committee, Pinne Paalam Polikkal Committee, Pinne Paalam Pani Committee… ithilellam nammal thane alle angangal.’