Jayaprakash & Madhusudhan Rao Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

The 2010s belonged to Kathakali‬; the 2020s to Etharkkum Thunindhavan. Jayaprakash acted in every film; Madhusudhan Rao acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Madhusudhan Rao first approached Jayaprakash for a small role in Kathakali (2016), but the actor pushed back — he wanted the meatier antagonist part. Rao rewrote the character to fit him, and that gamble gave the film its most talked-about villain.
• On the sets of Idhu Namma Aalu (2016), Rao let Jayaprakash improvise most of his comic lines. The actor would try three different deliveries per take, and Rao would pick the wildest one — that's how the 'auto-kaaran' rant became a meme.
• The success of Etharkkum Thunindhavan (2022) directly led to Suriya signing Madhusudhan Rao for his next project. Jayaprakash had recommended Rao to Suriya during the film's post-production — a career break Rao credits entirely to that conversation.
• Jayaprakash and Rao share a WhatsApp group called '3 Films Club' with just the two of them. After every film wrap, Rao sends a voice note of the first clapboard sound — a ritual they've kept since Kathakali.
• "He's the only director who lets me fail on camera. Most cut the take. He says 'keep going, I'll fix it in edit.' That trust is rare." — Jayaprakash, in a 2022 interview with Cinema Express, talking about Madhusudhan Rao.