A look back at Telugu comedian Ali’s journey from child actor to politician

Ali, the popular comedian of Telugu cinema, needs no introduction. This actor is known for his super funny and memorable dialogues and perfect comic timing. Ali, who has made people laugh with his comedic performances and has appeared in nearly 1,000 films, celebrated his 56th birthday on Tuesday. He has won the Nandi Award twice and the Filmfare South Award twice.

Ali entered the industry with the help of actor Jit Mohan Mitra and later became a politician. Let’s take a look at his journey from movies to politics. He made his debut in the film industry with his 1979 film Nindu Noorellu directed by K Raghavend Rao. As a child, he played many roles, but as an adult he struggled to appear in films. Later, he chose to become a comedian in Tollywood.

Director SV Krishna Reddy has cast Ali in comical roles in many of his films. The actor slowly developed his style. He is known as Chhatha in the industry and starred in the 2010 Kannada film Super which received rave reviews. He also became the host of his talkie show called Ali Talkies on MAA TV.

Over the years, Ali has also been involved in many controversies. One of them was when he made a terrible blunder at the audio launch of the 2015 film Size Zero in Hyderabad. He also made inappropriate comments about actress Anushka Shetty, inciting both the actress and her fans. In his speech at his audio launch, Ali reportedly compared Anushka to “garam jalebi that everyone likes to eat”. He said, “Ever since I saw her in ‘Billa’ (in which Anushka appeared in a bikini), I became a fan of hers.” These remarks did not sit well with many, with people slamming him for being “cheesy and sexist”. Even Anushka Shetty reacted to these remarks and said that she was shocked.

Mr. Ali joined YSR Congress Party on March 11, 2019 and was appointed as Electronic Media Advisor to the Government of Andhra Pradesh on October 27, 2022. In the upcoming elections, she will contest against actor and Jana Sena party leader Pawan Kalyan. Due to his foray into politics and campaigning, Ali has appeared in fewer films recently. He was last seen in Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s ‘Kushi’. He is preparing the film ‘Geetanjali 2’.