Malli Pelli and Grey The Spy Who Loved Me: Sarath Babu, Pratap Pothen’s last films to release on the same day

Two legendary actors will posthumously bid goodbye to their careers in cinema this weekend - Pratap Pothen and Sarath Babu. If Pratap Pothen was more popular as an actor than as a director in Telugu cinema, Sarath Babu was the pillar that held together some of the finest films in the industry in the 80s till the 2000s with his performances.

Their last Telugu films incidentally release this Friday. Pratap Pothen’s last Telugu film will be Raj Madiraju’s espionage thriller titled Grey: The Spy Who Loved Me. He plays a crooked scientist named Sudarshan Reddy who’s found dead at his home under mysterious circumstances. He is cast as a geeky elderly man who’s set to come up with the next big invention in nuclear sciences.

Incidentally, Pratap Pothen’s role is quite integral to the film and he’s believed to have come up with a fantastic performance. At the time of Pothen’s death, the film’s actor-director Raj Madiraju wrote, “His last words to me after watching the trailer were..Please ready a story for me Raj, I’ll act for free. Don't rest in peace up there Sir.. Conquer the Heaven with your style..”

Meanwhile, Sarath Babu’s role in Malli Pelli is kept under wraps and Naresh hasn’t particularly discussed the premise of the film in detail in any of his promotional interviews. The former is paired opposite Jayasudha in the relationship drama, written and directed by MS Raju. His gentle, warm persona on screen uplifted many of his appearances in several Telugu films over the years.

“We used to joke, laugh together. Our association has lasted for over three and a half decades. When we asked him to act in Malli Pelli opposite Jayasudha, he was ready to do it for free owing to his bond with me and mom (Vijaya Nirmala). We spent happy times on the set and he blessed me and Pavitra, asking us to stand by each other at all times. I’ve lost a good friend and actor,” Naresh told at the time of Sarath Babu’s death.