M. S. Narayana

M. S. Narayana (16 April 1951 – 23 January 2015) (Mallavarapu Surya Narayana) was an Indian actor and comedian who worked in Telugu cinema. Narayana worked in over 750 films in his career spanning 23 years. He died on 23 January 2015 due to organ failure in Hyderabad, India.

Narayana dabbled in theatre initially while working as a lecturer at KGRL College, Bhimavaram, and entered the film industry as a writer before being introduced as an actor.^{[citation needed]} He made his debut as a writer in the film Alexander starring his son Vikram. Another film directed by him was Bhajantrilu. He penned dialogues for eight films.^{[citation needed]}

Narayana's debut film as an actor was M. Dharmaraju M.A. which was released in 1994. M. S. Narayana, initially a writer, contributed to comedy track in the film. Director Ravi Raja Pinisetty, seeking an actor with a distinct appearance described as "Dosakai Mokham" (cucumber face), cast Narayana, who was then working as a writer, after an assistant suggested his name. Although hesitant to act, Narayana accepted the role following Pinisetty's encouragement.

Narayana became very popular for his comedian roles in Telugu cinema. During the promotion of Dileep Kumar and Priyal Gor starrer film Saheba Subramanyam, which was directed by his daughter Sasi Kiran, he said that he started his career in 1997, at the age of 46. Since then, he has acted in over 700 films in a short period of just 17 years. His friends appealed to the Guinness Records Academy to recognise him.