M. S. Narayana & Ram Pothineni Movies Together List — 4 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s belonged to Devadasu; the 2010s to Masala. M. S. Narayana acted in every film; Ram Pothineni acted in all of them. Strictly Telugu cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Ram Pothineni personally requested M. S. Narayana to play the comedian role in Devadasu (2006) after seeing his work in other films. Narayana initially hesitated, thinking he wouldn't fit the young hero's energy, but Ram insisted they'd make it work.
• On the sets of Maska (2009), Narayana would deliberately flub his lines in the first take to make Ram laugh, breaking the ice before they locked the final comic timing. Ram said it helped him relax into the scene.
• During the shoot of Masala (2013), Narayana would bring homemade pickles from his village for Ram every Friday. The crew called it 'Friday achar' and it became a running joke on set.
• "Narayana garu is the only person who can make me laugh even when I'm angry. He'd walk into the frame and I'd forget my lines because I was giggling like a kid." — Ram Pothineni, in a 2015 interview about Pandaga Chesko.
• Their comic track in Devadasu (2006) was so well-received that the director added extra scenes for them during the re-shoot, which directly inspired the trend of pairing young heroes with veteran comedians in Telugu rom-coms for the next few years.