Maestro of mimicry Nerella Venu Madhav passes away at 85

HYDERABAD: Famous mimicry artist Nerella Venumadhav passed away at his house in Hanamkonda on Tuesday morning after a brief illness. He was 85.

Born in Warangal in 1932, Madhav started his career in 1947 at the age of 16.

Venu Madhav has been honoured in various ways both in India and abroad: a ‘Padma Shri’ from the government India, ‘Kalaprapoorna’ from Andhra University, an honorary doctorate from Kakatiya University and a rare honour of ‘Gajarohanam' by the TTD. He was the first Indian mimicry and ventriloquism artiste to have performed at the UN headquarters. He introduced the subject of Mimicry in Telugu University’s curriculum; he wrote its syllabus and even taught in the first two years.


He was nominated as a member of Legislative Council of Andhra Pradesh by the then chief minister P. V. Narasimha Rao in 1971. He received Padma Shri for performing arts from the government of India in 2001. A special postal cover was released on the occasion of the celebration of 70 years in the art of mimicry by Padma Shri Dr Nerella Venu Madhav.

Telangana chief minister K.Chandrashekhar Rao expressed deep condolences for Nerella Venu Madhav and described him as one of the finest artists. He has ordered that Nerella Venu Madhav shall be given a state funeral.