Nedumudi Venu, Malayalam cinema’s czar of acting is no more. The 73-year old actor, whom critics of global cinema had rated as the Total Artist, breathed his last in a corporate hospital at Thiruvananthapuram on Monday noon. He was ailing for some time and has hospitalized last week.
In a career spanning more than four decades, Venu perfected many roles with poise and elan. He began his film career with G Aravindan, the Man with the Midas touch who cast him in his movie Thampu (Malayalam for The Circus Tent) and since then there was no looking back for him. Venu leaves behind more than 500 myriad roles, ranging from hero, supporting artist, comedian and villain.
Venu hadwon three National Awards and six Kerala State Film Awards besides a host of other reputed honors. Born at Nedumudi village in Alappuzha, Venu was selected by Kavalam Narayana Panicker, who is credited with carving out a distinct style of drama, popularly known as Thanathu Natakam. While the other dramatists failed to make any impact in the highly competitive theatre in the State, Panicker and his team that included Venu reached the pinnacle. Venu’s contemporaries include Gopi and Murali both national award winning artists.