Telugu Actor Fish Venkat Passes Away At 53 Due To Organ Failure

Popular Telugu actor-comedian Fish Venkat, whose real name is Venkat Raj, breathed his last on Friday, July 18, at a hospital in Hyderabad after battling kidney-related ailments, reported Telangana Today. He was 53.

Telugu actor-comedian Fish Venkat dies

Venkat was admitted to the hospital recently after his health deteriorated, followed by kidney failure. He was in the ICU, and his family was in search of a donor and was in need of financial support for kidney transplant.

Earlier, in an interview with One India, Fish Venkat's daughter Sravanthi shared that Prabhas' team had promised to help them financially.

Sravanthi had said that they needed around Rs 50 lakh for Fish Venkat’s kidney transplant. "Daddy isn’t well at all. He is very serious and in the ICU. He needs a kidney transplant. It will cost us at least ₹50 lakh. Prabhas’ assistant called us and offered financial assistance. They asked us to inform them when his transplant happens to cover the cost," she had said.

Later, Venkat’s family told Suman TV that the call was fake. They had said, "Actually, nothing like that happened. We have been answering every call we get to see if anyone can help us. Some unknown person called us pretending to be Prabhas Anna’s assistant. We found out after that it was a fake call. He doesn’t even know something like this is happening. We have not received any financial help yet."

About Fish Venkat

Born in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, Fish Venkat started his acting journey in the 2000 film Kushi.

Fish Venkat earned the moniker ‘fish’ for his distinctive Telangana dialect. He played both comedy and villainous roles, and starred in films like Bunny, Adhurs, Dhee, Gabbar Singh, Mosagallaku Mosagadu, Mirchi Lanti Kurradu, Maa Vintha Gaadha Vinuma, Mirapakay, Slum Dog Husband, Narakasura, and DJ Tillu, among others. His last appearance was in 2025 comedy thriller, Coffee with a Killer.