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Celebrity

Chef Damu, Cooku With Comali judge and Padma Shri recipient, dies at 72

Celebrity chef K. Damodharan, known as Chef Damu, has died in Chennai aged 72 after a period of ill health, the Times of India and The News Minute reported on Sunday. The Padma Shri recipient was a judge on Star Vijay's Cooku With Comali and held the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.

By Maya Lindqvist · · 2 min read

Celebrity chef K. Damodharan, known to millions of Tamil television viewers as Chef Damu, has died in Chennai aged 72 after a period of ill health, the Times of India and The News Minute reported on Sunday 25 October.

Damu had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Chennai after being unwell for several days, The News Minute reported. He was a judge on Star Vijay’s popular comedy cooking reality show Cooku With Comali, where his warmth and gentle judging style made him a household name across Tamil Nadu.

He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in 2025 for his contribution to the food industry. In 2010 he set the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual, preparing 617 dishes weighing 190 kilograms in a continuous session lasting 24 hours, 30 minutes and 12 seconds.

Damu began his career in 1977 as a management trainee with the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation and later became the first Indian chef to receive a PhD in hotel management and catering technology, from the University of Madras in 2004. He wrote more than 20 cookbooks and worked to promote traditional South Indian cuisine, particularly Chettinad cooking.

His death comes weeks after false rumours of his death circulated in August, which he answered himself in a video message explaining his absence from the show. Actress Ramya Pandian, a former Cooku With Comali participant, paid tribute on Sunday, calling him “one of the warmest souls” she had known and saying his contribution to the culinary world was remarkable.

Sources

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