Brahmanandam & Mallikarjuna Rao Movies Together List — 16 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s account for 69% of everything they made together. The 1990s belonged to Alibaba Aradajanu Dongalu; the 2000s to 143 (and I miss You). Brahmanandam acted in every film; Mallikarjuna Rao acted in all of them.

Partnership facts

• Their first film together, Rajendrudu Gajendrudu (1993), was a comedy where Brahmanandam played a ghost. Mallikarjuna Rao was the sidekick who kept getting scared. The director, S. V. Krishna Reddy, paired them because he wanted a fast-talking straight man (Rao) to bounce off Brahmanandam's wild physical comedy.
• In Alibaba Aradajanu Dongalu (1994), they played two bumbling thieves. Mallikarjuna Rao would set up the joke with a deadpan line, and Brahmanandam would explode into a chaotic reaction. Rao later said in an interview that Brahmanandam never rehearsed — he just went off-script, and Rao had to stay sharp to keep the scene grounded.
• On the sets of Nuvvu Vastavani (2000), the two shared a room during outdoor shoots. Brahmanandam would stay up late writing new jokes for the next day's scene, and Mallikarjuna Rao would read them aloud to test the timing. They did this for every film they worked on together.
• Their double-act in Sakutumba Saparivara Sametam (2000) — where they played a father and son who keep swapping identities — directly inspired the comedy track in the 2005 hit Dhairyam. The director of Dhairyam, Siva Nageswara Rao, said he wrote the entire second half around their back-and-forth rhythm.
• Mallikarjuna Rao once said: 'Brahmanandam is like a firecracker. I just have to light the fuse and step back. My job is to not get burned.' He said this in a 2005 interview about their work on 143 (and I miss You).
• In Maa Alludu Very Good (2003), they played rival uncles fighting over a wedding. Brahmanandam did all the loud, over-the-top shouting, while Mallikarjuna Rao played the quiet, scheming uncle who never raised his voice. The contrast made both characters funnier — Rao's stillness made Brahmanandam's outbursts land harder.