Akkineni Nagarjuna & L.B. Sriram Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s belonged to Azad; the 2010s to Nirmala Convent. Akkineni Nagarjuna acted in every film; L.B. Sriram acted in all of them. Strictly Telugu cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• L.B. Sriram was a popular comedian in the 90s, but Nagarjuna personally insisted he play the lead villain in 'Ninne Premista' (2000). That film gave Sriram his first major negative role, changing his career trajectory.
• In 'Azad' (2000), Nagarjuna played a double role — one a suave city guy, the other a rustic village man. Sriram played the comic sidekick to both versions. The trick was that Sriram had to react differently to each character, and Nagarjuna would adjust his timing based on which version Sriram was playing in the scene.
• After 'Azad' released, Nagarjuna recommended Sriram for a key role in another big-budget film. Sriram later said in an interview that Nagarjuna never took credit for that recommendation — he just quietly opened doors.
• Their third film together, 'Nirmala Convent' (2016), was a women-centric thriller. It was one of the first Telugu films where a mainstream hero (Nagarjuna) played a supporting role to a female lead — and Sriram played the antagonist. The film directly inspired a wave of similar female-led thrillers in Telugu over the next two years.
• L.B. Sriram once said: 'Nagarjuna garu is the only hero who treated me as an equal on set. He never made me feel like a comedian. In 'Ninne Premista', he told the director, 'Let Sriram's character be as strong as mine.' That changed how people saw me.'