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

Bio/Wiki
Real name	Kesavan Venugopal [1]The News Minute
Nickname	Venu [2]YouTube
Profession(s)	Actor, Screenwriter
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 167 cm in meters- 1.67 m in feet & inches- 5’ 6”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Salt and pepper
Career
Debut	Malayalam Film (actor): Oru Sundariyude Katha (1972) in a small role Malayalam Film (screenplay & dialogue): Aarohanam (1980) Malayalam TV (acting & directing): Kairali Vilasam Lodge (1988) Malayalam Film (director): Pooram (1989) Tamil Film (actor): Mogamul (1995) as Ranganna English Film (actor): Chaurahen (2007) as Mr. Nair Sanskrit Film (actor): Ishti (2016) as Ramavikraman Namboothiri
Last Film	Malayalam Film (actor): Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (2021) as Samoothiri Tamil Film (actor): Indian 2 (2022) as Muthu Krishnaswamy Malayalam Film (screenplay): Rasam (2015)
Awards, Honours, Achievements	National Film Awards • Best Supporting Actor for the Malayalam film 'His Highness Abdullah' (1990) • Special Jury Award for the Malayalam film 'Margam' (2003) • National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Narration/Voice Over for the Malayalam film 'Minukku' (2006) 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' (1991) and 'Santhwanam' (1990) • Second Best Actor for 'Thenmavin Kombath' (1994) • Best Actor for 'Margam' (2003) 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 O'ru Second Class Yathra' (2015) 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) Note: He received many more awards apart from these.
Personal Life
Date of Birth	22 May 1948 (Saturday)
Birthplace	Nedumudi, Kingdom of Travancore, Dominion of India (now in Alappuzha, Kerala, India)
Date of Death	11 October 2021
Place of Death	Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Age (at the time of death)	73 Years
Death Cause	Post Covid-19 complications [3]The New Indian Express
Zodiac sign	Gemini
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
School	• NSS Higher Secondary School, Nedumudi • St. Mary's Higher Secondary School, Champakulam
College/University	S. D. College, Alappuzha, Kerala
Education Qualification	BA in Malayalam [4]The New Indian Express
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	TR Susheela
Children	Son(s)- Unni Gopal and Kannan Gopal
Parents	Father- P. K. Kesavan Nair (school teacher) Mother- P. Kunjikkuttiyamma
Siblings	He had four elder brothers.

Some Lesser Known Facts About Nedumudi Venu

• Kesavan Venugopal, popularly known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian screenwriter and actor who primarily worked in the Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films that include many Malayali films as well as Tamil films.

• Nedumudi Venu was born in Nedumudi, Travancore, as the youngest child among five siblings. He completed his primary education and followed his interest in arts and music. After his graduation, he started working as a journalist for the weekly news magazine Kalakaumudi, and after that, he worked as a teacher at a coaching institute.
  

  Old picture of Nedumudi Venu

• Following his passion for art and music, Nedumudi played Mridangam very well, which helped him become friends with the Indian filmmakers G. Aravindan, Padmarajan, and Bharath Gopi (also an actor). His friendship with the filmmakers helped him start his acting and film career.

• Venu started working as a theatre artist and then slowly paved his way to films. He made his debut in the Malayalam film industry with Oru Sundariyude Katha (1972) in a small role. Soon, he began getting more and more films, and he worked in Bharathan’s ‘Aaravam’ (1978) and Padmarajan’s ‘Oridathoru Phayalwan’ (1981) and ‘Kallan Pavithran’ (1981). This changed the path of his career, and he started getting lead roles in the movies.
  

  Poster of Kallan Pavithran movie

• Apart from acting in the movie, Venu wrote scripts for movies such as ‘Kattathe Kilikkoodu’ (1983), ‘Theertham’ (1987), ‘Sruthi’ (1987), and ‘Ambada Njaane!’ (1985). He also acted in several Tamil movies like Kamal Haasan‘s ‘Indian’ (1996) and Vikram‘s ‘Anniyan’ (2005).
  

  Nedumudi Venu in the cover of Ambada Njaane! (1985)

• Venu also worked in the Malayalam television series. Some of his famous works are ‘Kairali Vilasam Lodge’ on Doordarshan as its director and actor, Swapnam (Asianet), Oomakkuyil (Surya TV), Peythozhiyathe (Surya TV), etc.

• He worked in the film Parinamam (2003), which was directed by P Venu, and it won the best screenplay award during the Ashdod International Film Festival that took place in Israel.
  

  The cover of Parinamam (2003) by P Venu

• In September 2007, Venu won the Best Actor award for the movie ‘Saira’ (2005) at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival. Saira was the only movie that was selected from India to be included in the festival.

• In 2021, Nedumudi Venu tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, and he showed recovery from the virus. However, he was getting treated for some stomach ailments for a few months. On 10 October 2021, he was rushed to a private hospital after he experienced uneasiness, and his condition worsened, and he took his last breath on 11 October 2021 in the morning. As the news went out, actor Prithviraj Sukumaran posted a tweet on his Twitter to appreciate Venu’s work and pay him tribute.

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

• Nedumudi Venu has also worked in an Indian English drama film that was directed by Rajshree Ojha. The film starred Zeenat Aman, Roopa Ganguly, Soha Ali Khan, and Keira Chaplin in the leading roles. The film consisted of four short stories of the Hindi novelist Nirmal Verma. The shooting of the film was completed in 2007, but it did not get a theatrical release and was released in film festivals across the globe. The film got its theatrical release in 2012 through PVR Pictures and received mixed reviews.

• Along with several famous personalities of the South Indian cinema, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi also came forward to offer his condolences via a tweet.

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