Nijam with Smita: From Michael Madana Kamaraja to F2, Allari Naresh and Anil Ravipudi discuss their favourite comedies

Sony LIV’s first Telugu talk show, Nijam with Smita, is gradually making a mark among streaming enthusiasts. The show has completed seven episodes in as many weeks featuring bigwigs Chiranjeevi, Chandra Babu Naidu, Nani, Rana Daggubati, Sai Pallavi, Pullela Gopichand, Sudheer Babu, Adivi Sesh, Major Bharath Reddy, Dev Katta and Sandeep Reddy Vanga, to name a few.

Now, the eighth episode of the show, hosted by musician, entrepreneur Smita Vallurupalli, brings together an actor and a director whose strengths are similar - their sense of humour. As you may have guessed by now, we’re talking about Allari Naresh and director Anil Ravipudi. Both are quite a natural with humour on and off screen and audiences get a glimpse of the same in this episode.

While Naresh’s first film Allari turned out to be a hit and he never had to look back later, Anil Ravipudi scored a series of successes including Pataas, Supreme, Raja the Great, and Sarileru Neekevvaru. In the episode, Naresh discusses how audience’s tastes are changing with time, where they’re appreciating situational and character-driven humour in the recent years.

Anil Ravipudi, meanwhile, opens up on comedy becoming an integral part of mainstream Telugu cinema that brings much-needed levity to the big screen. The duo spills the beans about several funny incidents from their personal and professional lives, also talking on the widening scope for actors to perform comedy in the industry, while discussing their favourite films in the genre.

Allari Naresh says confusion comedy will be his pick within the comedy genre, while referring to Michael Madana Kamaraju as his personal favourite. Anil Ravipudi talks about his own film F2 and a wedding scene that continues to fascinate him. Radhika Sarathkumar, Supriya Yarlagadda, Swapna Dutt Chalasani, Jaya Prakash Narayan and Ram Madhav will be seen in the future episodes.