Kota Srinivasa Rao & Ali Movies Together List — 17 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-03 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Kota Srinivasa Rao and Ali appeared together in 17 Telugu films between 1994 and 2015. Their highest-rated collaboration was Hungama (2005 — 7.5/10). Films span Yamaleela (1994) through Temper (2015).
The Kota Srinivasa Rao & Ali partnership
Their work runs across 3 decades of Telugu cinema. 2000 was their peak — 3 films in twelve months. For 21 years, a Kota–Ali film arrived almost every year.
From Yamaleela (1994) to Temper (2015). Hungama is the one most viewers reach for.
The shape of the work
The 1990s belonged to Yamaleela; the 2010s to Temper . Kota Srinivasa Rao acted in every film; Ali acted in all of them. Strictly Telugu cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Their first film together, Super Police (1994), was a cop comedy where Kota Srinivasa Rao played the villain and Ali played a sidekick. Neither was the lead — they were just two supporting actors thrown into the same scene. Nobody planned a duo.
- In Hungama (2005), their only film together that scored above 7 on IMDb, Kota played a strict father and Ali played a bumbling son-in-law. The comedy came from Kota's deadpan glare and Ali's frantic stammer — they never tried to out-laugh each other. Kota set the tension, Ali broke it.
- Their 2012 film Cameraman Ganga Tho Rambabu was the only time they shared screen space with a then-rising star named Pawan Kalyan. That film's success helped cement Pawan's mass-hero image in the early 2010s — and both Kota and Ali were the ones feeding him punchlines.
- Ali has said in interviews that Kota Srinivasa Rao never laughed at his jokes on set. Not once. Ali would improvise, crack up the entire crew, but Kota would just nod and say 'next shot.' Ali called it 'the ultimate test of my comedy.'
- Ali once told a Telugu news channel: 'Kota garu is the only actor who can make me nervous. If he doesn't laugh, I know I have to work harder. If he smiles, I know the scene is gold.'
- In Run Raja Run (2014), they played a corrupt politician and his henchman. Their scenes together had no dialogue overlap — Kota would deliver a slow, threatening line, and Ali would react with a terrified pause before stuttering his reply. The rhythm was always Kota leading, Ali following.
17 films across 3 decades
The 1990s accounted for 2 films, averaging 5.8/10.
The 2000s brought 7 films together, anchored by Hungama (7.5/10).
The 2010s brought 8 films together, anchored by Temper (7.0/10).
- Yamaleela
- Super Police0
- Hungama
- Sandade Sandadi
- Temper
- Run Raja Run
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
17 films across 21 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Telugu being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
44% of Ali's screen credits are with Kota Srinivasa Rao.
Before Yamaleela, Kota Srinivasa Rao had starred in 22 films, including Chinna Rayudu (1992) and Muta Mesthri (1993).
After Temper , Kota Srinivasa Rao went on to appear in 24 more films, including Konda Polam (2021) and Maharshi (2019).
Yamaleela was Ali's acting debut.
After Temper , Ali went on to appear in 22 more films, including Oopiri (2016) and Raju Gari Gadhi - 3 (2019).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Kota Srinivasa Rao & Ali's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Brahmanandam is the through-line — cast on 13 of their 17 films. Mani Sharma scored 5 of them. They worked with the same 8 people again and again — a small repertory company.
13
7
5
4
33
3
22
222
2
2
2
22
22
2
22
2
2
2
2
52
2
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