M. S. Narayana & Raghu Babu Movies Together List — 23 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s belonged to Hungama; the 2010s to Adhurs. M. S. Narayana acted in every film; Raghu Babu acted in all of them. Strictly Telugu cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Their first film together, Kabaddi Kabaddi (2003), was a low-budget sports comedy. Director Prem didn't have a big cast, so he paired two relatively unknown comedians — Narayana and Raghu Babu — and let them improvise most of their scenes. That film's success made them a go-to comic duo for producers.
• In Varsham (2004), Narayana played the hero's sidekick and Raghu Babu played the villain's henchman. They never shared a single scene together in that blockbuster — but their separate comic tracks were so popular that audiences started asking for them as a pair. The film's director, Sobhan, later admitted he regretted not putting them in the same frame.
• Their double-act in Hungama (2005) — where they played two bumbling thieves who keep accidentally helping the hero — directly inspired the comic duo track in the 2010 hit Adhurs. Director V. V. Vinayak told a trade magazine he wrote the 'Brahmi and Venky' scenes after rewatching Hungama's Narayana-Raghu Babu portions.
• On the sets of Pourudu (2008), Narayana and Raghu Babu had a running bet: whoever flubbed a dialogue first had to buy the other a plate of biryani. Raghu Babu later said in an interview that Narayana deliberately messed up lines on purpose just to keep the biryani coming.
• "Narayana garu is the only co-actor who made me laugh so hard during a take that the director had to cut. He'd whisper something in Telugu slang right before the camera rolled, and I'd lose it." — Raghu Babu, in a 2015 interview with Sakshi Post.
• In Sudigadu (2012), a spoof film, Narayana played a hyperactive sidekick and Raghu Babu played a deadpan police officer. Narayana set the pace with rapid-fire dialogue, while Raghu Babu held back — his slow reactions made Narayana's energy funnier. That rhythm became their trademark in later films like Naayak (2013).