Naresh & Chandra Siddhartha Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

The 2000s belonged to Madhumasam; the 2010s to NTR Kathanayakudu. Never on the same side of the camera — Naresh actor, Chandra Siddhartha director, across all 3 films. Strictly Telugu cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Chandra Siddhartha cast Naresh in Madhumasam (2007) after seeing him in a small but intense role in another film. Naresh was hesitant about playing a romantic lead at his age, but Siddhartha convinced him by rewriting the character to be more mature and layered.
• On the sets of Andari Bhanduvayya (2010), Naresh would deliberately flub his lines in the first take to make Chandra Siddhartha laugh. Siddhartha then used that relaxed energy for the final cut — he said Naresh’s natural comic timing only worked when he wasn’t trying too hard.
• Naresh and Chandra Siddhartha share a love for old Telugu folk songs. During the Madhumasam shoot, they would play rare vinyl records between takes — and Siddhartha later admitted that the film’s background score was directly inspired by one of those late-night listening sessions.
• Chandra Siddhartha once said in an interview: 'Naresh is the only actor who can make me laugh even when the scene is supposed to be serious. I had to cut half his improvisations from Andari Bhanduvayya because the crew couldn't stop giggling.'
• The success of NTR Kathanayakudu (2019) — despite its low IMDb score — directly led to Chandra Siddhartha being offered a bigger-budget historical drama. Naresh personally recommended him to the producers after the film became a box office hit.