Nedumudi Venu

Nedumudi Venu tried journalism, with a short stint at Kalakaumudi, and taught at a tutorial college before theatre drew him in and led him into films. Born Kesavan Venugopal on 22 May 1948 at Nedumudi in Alappuzha district, he was the youngest of five brothers. He went to school in Nedumudi and Champakulam and completed a BA in Malayalam at Sanatana Dharma College, Alappuzha. The actor and screenwriter from Kerala worked mostly in Malayalam cinema. His career ran close to five decades and took in more than 500 films, largely Malayalam with some Tamil. He wrote screenplays and directed one film. Three National Film Awards came his way, including Best Supporting Actor for His Highness Abdullah, along with three Filmfare Awards South and six Kerala State Film Awards. In his later years he played Kunnath Madhavan Nair, father of the lead brothers, in Pokkiri Raja (2010), and Adv. Srinivasan in Joseph (2018). He also acted in Priyadarshan's Thenmavin Kombathu (1994), which came back to cinemas in a 4K version 32 years after its first release. He died on 11 October 2021, aged 73.