By Nandiraju Radhakrishna, Senior Journalist
He is the father who gave life to the art of ventriloquism (sound imitation). He is the master of the art of mimicry for 65 years. He is Telangana Telugu Tejam, Dhvanyanukarana Samrat Padmashri Dr. Nerella Venumadhav.
He was born on December 28, 1932 to Srihari and Srilakshmi in Mattewada, Warangal. Father was a businessman and a scholar in six languages. Venumadhav was his twelfth child.
While studying at Andhra Vidyabhivardhi High School, Chilakamarthi made his debut on the stage by acting in dramas under the tutelage of Hari Radhakrishnamurthy. Venumadhav was a lover of wit, pun and humour.
Kandalai Seshacharya and Kodanda Rama Shastri of Yaddanapudi contributed to his development. During that period, all the literary scholars who came to Warangal town were hosted in their house. Among them were Chellapilla Venkata Sastri, Vavilikolanu Subbarao, Vaddadi Subbaraoud, Rayaprolu Subbarao, Sripada Krishnamurthy Sastri, Kasi Krishnacharyu, Yarramilli Jaggannadha Sastri. Venumadhav was influenced by their literary discussions. Chittoor V Nagayya became his favourite and grew fond of the films Grihalakshmi, Vandemataram, Devata, Swargaseema, Potana and Vemana.
He used to watch Vemuri Gaggaiah and Madhavpeddi Venkataramaiah’s movies and imitate the songs and poems from those movies after coming home. Thus began his reign of mimicry. That flow started in the year 1947. Venumadhav had developed contacts with celebrities in many fields like cinema, literature and arts.
After joining Warangal Arts and Science College in 1952, the principal Baru Venkata Ramanarsu granted a scholarship of sixty rupees to Venumadhav under good conduct, without listening to the other teachers. With that money, he watched English movies and listened to the actors’ voices and important scenes along with the background music. Principal Ramanarsu was very happy and said, “You are my second son.” It was these blessings that made Venumadhav the ‘World Famous Ventriloquist and mimicry artiste.
Joined GCS School (Hanumakonda) as a teacher in 1953 and worked in Dharmasagaram, Hanumakonda, Matwada, Janagama, Shambhunipet schools. His first performance was given in 1947.
In 1953, gave a notable second performance at the Rajahmundry Theaters Federation Conference in a program presided over by Balraj Sahani. Garikapati Raja Rao, Daadi Govindarajulu, Sthanam Narasimha Rao, Chaganti Sanyasiraju and others which received a mammoth response.
Married in 1957 to Sobhavathy, daughter of Tenali-based freedom fighters Kolla Kashiviswanadham and Tayaramma.
He was not only famous in the field of mimicry and literature but also in many spears as MLC, FDC Director, Sangeet Natak Academy Member, South Zone Cultural Committee, Thanjavur Member, Doordarshan Program Advisory Committee Member, Telecom Advisory Committee Member, etc.
Andhra University awarded him with “Kalaprapurna”, JNTUC and Kakatiya University gave “Honorary Doctorates” in the year 1977 for his contribution in the field of literature. Gajarohanam and civil honours were held in Tirupati town. He received several titles for services in the field of literature. A building was constructed in his home town Hanumakonda on his name, christened “Nerella Venumadhav Kalapraganam”, which is serving as a platform for literary and cultural events.
In 2001, Government of India honoured him with “Padma Shri” award. In the year 1981, Sri Rajalakshmi Foundation Prize, Kalaprapurna, NTR “Atma Gaurava Puraskaram” and distinguished award in Cultural Field from Telugu University were also presented to him. Venumadhav passed away on June 19, 2018, at the age of 85. Our rich tributes to that incredible voice that was mute on sixth death anniversary.
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