Nerella Venu Madhav (28 December 1932 – 19 June 2018) was an Indian

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and ventriloquist. He rose to popularity imitating celebrities, politicians, local dialects, Nizams and was the first to perform at the United Nations headquarters. He started a diploma course at Telugu University, a first in the world. He is often regarded as father of Indian mimicry. He is also hailed as the pioneer and maestro of mimicry in India.

Early life

Nerella Venu Madhav was born in Mattewada, Warangal,

Hyderabad state Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...

to an industrialist, Hari and Srilakshmi. His father had a great admiration for literature. He completed his matriculation in 1950, and joined Warangal Arts and Science College for bachelor's degree in 1952. The principal of the college, B. V. Ram Narasu was very impressed by his talent, and even presented him with ₹60 as scholarship for good conduct, despite opposition from some lecturers. He encouraged him to take up mimicry. As a young boy, he used to play pranks by imitating people in his village to perfection. He used to mimic the people who visited his house and friends.

Career

Venu Madhav started his career in 1947 at the age of 16. He rose to popularity, coming from a village, imitating celebrities, politicians, local Telangana dialect. He worked as a school teacher in Mattewad Middle School in Hanamkonda in 1953. He also started and worked as a Mimicry faculty in Telugu University. He loved Telugu, Urdu and English literature, and greatly admired

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

. He started his mimicry career with the voice of Telugu actor,

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. I ...

. He performed in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, English, Urdu, Hindi,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

and also musical instruments. He has toured all over the world and was popular for imitating world leaders, Hollywood celebrities and background score. His mimicry of a scene in the popular Hollywood movie, Mckenna's Gold was legendary. His imitation of Pritviraj Kapur in Mughal-e-Azam; imitation of Karunanidhi's voice using only one English word 'gibberish' was also very popular. He used to imitate tall personalities, without offending them. He received their validation for his perfection. He was the first mimic in the world who performed at the United Nations Organisation, New York City. He was nominated as a Member of Legislative Council of Andhra Pradesh by the then Chief Minister

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is known for introducing various liberal reforms to Indi ...

in 1972 to '78. His birthday, 28 December, is celebrated as ''World Mimicry Day'' by some of his students. He was encouraged by film producer, B. N. Reddy to act in films. He acted in 12 Tollywood movies like ''

Gudachari 116 ''Gudachari 116'' () is a 1966 Indian Telugu-language spy film written by Aarudhra, and directed by M. Mallikarjuna Rao. The film stars Krishna, Jayalalitha, Rajanala and Mukkamala in pivotal roles. It is noted to be the first spy film in Telu ...

'' starring Krishna and Jayalalitha. He wrote a book on art of mimicry in Telugu language called ''Mimicry Kala''.

Other honours

An auditorium in Warangal is named in his honour as ''Dr. Nerella Venu Madhav Kalaa Pranganam''. The venue hosted a mimicry festival on his 80th birthday, 28 December by Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation at Hanamkonda Public Gardens and was named in 2011.

Death

Venu Madhav died on 19 June 2018 at 10:30 AM in Warangal, after a brief illness. He lived all his life in Warangal. The Government of Telangana accorded a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

, the Chief Minister announced the building of an auditorium at

Public Gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

with his statue and an educational institute to be named after him.

Personal life

He married Shobhavati in 1975 and has two sons; Srinath and Radhakrishna; and two daughters, Vasanthi and Lakshmi Tulasi, a mimicry artiste and studied under her father.

Awards and honours

* Padma Shri for

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

from the Government of India in 2001 * *

Raja-Lakshmi Award The Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation is an Indian charitable trust that promotes arts, sciences, literature, medicine, journalism, humanities and other intellectual pursuits and to honour distinguished persons in these fields. Established in 1979 in C ...

in 1981 by Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation Chennai * Kala Prapoorna title from Andhra University (Vishakhapatnam) in 1978 * Honorary Doctorates by Andhra University, IGNOU and Kakatiya University * Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the ''Telugu Book of Records & Telangana Recordula Pustakam'' (The Book of Telangana Records) on his 83rd birthday, on 28 December 2015 at Hanumakonda. * Gajarohanam by

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is an independent trust which manages the temples including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The trust oversees the operations and finances of the richest and the most visited religious cent ...

* Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) has named a street in Warangal city after him * Government of Telangana felicitation on

Telangana Formation Day Telangana Day commonly known as Telangana Formation Day is a state public holiday in the Indian state of Telangana, commemorating the formation of the state of Telangana. It is observed annually on 2 June since 2014. Telangana Day is commonly a ...

in 2018 * India Post honored by releasing a postal cover in December 2017

References

External links

*
Viśva vikhyāta "Mimikrī" Samrāṭ Nēreḷḷa Vēṇu Mādhav, Book by Puranam Subrahmanya Sarma

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madhav, Nerella Venu 1932 births 2018 deaths Indian impressionists (entertainers) Ventriloquists Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Telugu people People from Warangal People from Telangana