Puri Jagannadh & Ali Movies Together List — 6 Films

The shape of the work

The 2010s account for 67% of everything they made together. The 2000s belonged to Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi; the 2010s to Temper . Puri Jagannadh directed every film; Ali acted in all of them. Strictly Telugu cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Puri Jagannadh cast Ali in 'Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi' (2003) after seeing his comic timing in a stage show. Ali was initially hesitant because the role was small, but Puri convinced him by saying the comedy track would be the film's backbone. It worked — that film became a turning point for both.
• On the sets of 'Temper' (2015), Puri would let Ali improvise entire comedy sequences without a script. Ali once recalled that Puri would just say 'do your thing' and then edit around his ad-libs. That freedom gave us the iconic 'NTR' joke that audiences still repeat.
• The success of 'Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi' (2003) directly led to Puri casting Ali in a string of films. But more importantly, it revived Ali's career as a solo comedian — before this, he was mostly doing sidekick roles. After this film, he started getting his own comedy tracks in major star films.
• Ali and Puri had a running bet on every film: if the movie was a hit, Puri would buy Ali a new phone. Ali lost the bet on 'Loafer' (2015) — it flopped, so Puri didn't buy him anything. Ali later joked in an interview that he deliberately tanked the film to save Puri money.
• Ali once said about Puri: 'He is the only director who lets me be completely stupid on screen. Other directors tell me to control my expressions. Puri tells me to go crazier.'
• In 'Cameraman Ganga Tho Rambabu' (2012), Puri deliberately wrote Ali's comedy track to mirror the film's political tension. Instead of slapstick, Ali played a nervous sidekick who stammers under pressure — a rare restrained performance from him. Puri later said he wanted to show Ali could act, not just make faces.