Popular Telugu comedian and mimicry artiste Venu Madhav, who has been battling with kidney-related ailments for months, passed away on Wednesday in a private hospital in Hyderabad. He was 39.
According to reports, Madhav was undergoing treatment at Yashoda hospital for two weeks and was discharged on Sunday, 22 September. He was reportedly advised to undergo a kidney transplant.
After being discharged on Sunday, Madhav was admitted back to the hospital by his family on Tuesday afternoon (24 September) after his condition worsened. He was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and was put on life support system.
Madhav, who was born in Suryapet, began his career as a mimicry artiste. Recognized by his talent to mimic any voice and great humour sense, he made his acting debut with 1996 Telugu film “Samapradayam”.
He went on to star in some popular Telugu films like Master (1997), Tholi Prema (1999), Yuvaraju (2000), Nuvve Nuvve (2002), Dil (2003), Simhadri (2003) and Arya (2004) among others.
In 2016, Madhav made his last on screen appearance in Dr. Paramanandaiah Students. For last couple of years, Madhav has been down with health problems and rarely made any public appearance.
Madhav even dabbled in politics for a while. He campaigned for the Telugu Desam Party in recent elections.