On February 1, let us tell you an interesting story. There was once a man, content and knowledgeable. He taught the Telugu language to students in a college in the small town of Attili in West Godavari. We don’t know how or why, but we’re thankful that he stepped out of the classroom and stepped in front of the camera. The year was 1987 and the sets were of filmmaker Jandhyala’s Aha Naa Pellanta. On this set, there was a young man, short and stout. We saw him in the film as Ara Gundu, a comical character. His expressions changed every few moments and his dialogues hit the bullseyes. Initially a comic character on paper, this man emerged to be the legend of comedy, in the times to come. This man is, none other than, Brahmanandam garu.

33 years and thousands of films later, Brahmanandam has become synonymous with ‘comedy’ and ‘punch dialogues’. Having been part of almost every second film, this man holds the Guinness World Record for screen-credits, for a living man, in over 1000 films. For decades, Brahmanandam has been making people smile and laugh endlessly with his many roles. He has also been making us teary-eyed and grateful, every time we see he talks his heart out.

Not only us, but the government of the country also recognised his talent and awarded him with the Padma Shri in 2009. The state honours of Nandi Award has been conferred upon him five times, so far. And, an endless collection of awards and honour continue to take his legacy ahead.

The 2013 film, Balupu, starring Ravi Teja and Shruti Haasan, is an action-drama which has Brahmanandam in a pivotal role. And, that means a laughter fest, right? His role as Crazy Mohan makes the character of every protective and over-protective uncle comical. The film proves there can never be a replacement or substitute for Brahmanandam.

In Vishnu Manchu and Pragya Jaiswal’s Achari America Yatra, Brahmanandam plays the role of  Appalacharya. Here, he plays the innocent priest who tries to deal with the blasphemous things that people do for love. He makes us sympathise for him, and also makes us LOL with his expressions.

In Ram Charan and Rakulpreet‘s Bruce Lee: The Fighter, we see this magical comedian as Suzuki Subramanyam. Although a cameo, this role and his antiques stay with us much after we leave the theatre. In all true senses, here is a man who redefined the importance of guest appearances in mainstream cinema.

With Ram Pothineni and Rakulpreet‘s Pandaga Chesko, Mr Brahmi introduced us to Weekend Venkat Rao. While it would be extremely wrong and inappropriate in the real world, he makes his lustful character as the one we wait to see.

A sequel to Rajinikanth‘s Chandramukhi, Nagavalli is led by Venkatesh and Anushka Shetty. In the film, Brahmanandam is the loyal assistant to the world-famous psychologist, who has come to solve the impending case of a trapped soul. Just like a normal person, he keeps his thoughts to himself. But his world starts crashing down when the psychologist starts intruding into his thoughts.

Principals are usually scary, but the one in Varun Sandesh‘s Kotha Bangaru Lokam is an exception. Even when he tries to be scary, Brahmanandam’s character ends up being extremely funny. The best part is this principal even gets a piece of hook music playing for him.

You will never meet a classical musician who willingly “mixes” fart noises into the “Shruti of his songs”. You will never come across a musician who can talk about music but barely sings anything. All thanks to Siddharth and Ileana D’cruz starrer Aata, we meet this amazingly hilarious character.

Finally, Brother of Bommali starring Allari Naresh and Karthika Nair is a classic comedy film. Once again lifting the bar higher, Brahmanandam turns into Kona Venkat, the chef. People need his dates to fix their wedding, and he makes this overtly ambitious and obnoxious character hysterical and unmissable.

Wishing the legend of comedy a thousand more films, we sign out. You can check out more of films on ZEE5.