The Actor With The Guinness World Record For Most Movie Appearances

In the United States, the vast world of Telugu cinema isn’t terribly well-known. Indeed, many Americans might have first been exposed to Telugu cinema as recently as 2022 with the release of S.S. Rajamouli’s musical action epic “RRR,” a film that won Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. Telugu cinema — sometimes called Tollywood — is an industry that goes back 1912, and is produced in the southern part of India. Tollywood movies are not to be confused with Bollywood movies, which belong to a separate industry, describing movies made out of Bombay. Tollywood movies are in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, or Malayalam. Bollywood movies are in Hindi, but also sometimes in the Punjabi or Haryanvi languages. Also, generally speaking, Bollywood movies are shorter than Tollywood movies, and the former tends to skew toward romantic melodramas while the latter leans toward action and spectacle. 

Working in the world of Telugu cinema since his first feature film in 1986 is the prolific superstar Kanneganti Brahmanandam, who is usually credited by just his last name. Brahamanandam’s first movie was director Jandhyala’s romantic dramedy dud “Chanttabai,” a film about a would-be detective (Chiranjeevi) who fashions his life around James Bond. Brahmanandam’s character is not named, but he shows up in the background. 

Since then, Brahmanandam has racked up a staggering 1,049 additional film credits. Throughout the 1990s, he appeared in an average of 40 movies per year. His pleasant face and talent for comedy has him one of Telugu cinema’s most reliable and in-demand actors, and it seems that Brahmanandam never says no to anything. He also has branched out of Telugu cinema from time to time, having a modest filmography in Tamil as well. He currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most number of credits of any living actor — and, yes, that includes voice actors and adult performers as well. 

Brahmanandam started prolific and simply never stopped. He made his debut in 1986, but 1987 was already busy; he appeared in six feature films that year. By 1988, he starred in 18 movies. He remained at that clip for decades, only slowing slightly in 2016, when he only appeared in 13 films. In 2017, he took a bit of a break, showing up in only seven. We here in the United States become impressed when, say, Jude Law shows up in five high-profile movies. Brahmanandam beats Law’s yearly record by mid-January. In 2024, Brahamanandam appeared in the animated series “Bujji and Bhairava,” one film in Hindi, one film in Nepali, two Tamil films, and three Telugu movies. That’s in addition to his dubbing work. 

Americans may be familiar with a character Brahmanandam has played, as he provided the Telugu language dialogue for Pumbaa in the Indian dub of Jon Favreau’s “The Lion King.” He returned to the role for the prequel film, “Mufasa: The Lion King” as well. 

American audiences looking for easily accessible Brahmanandam performances will find his films “Indian II,” “Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo,” “Kushi,” “Bro,” and “Manmadhudu 2” on Netflix. The streaming service Sunnxt also has 24 more. Given how prolific he is, though, these films are but a sampling of the man’s amazing comedic talents. While a lot of Telugu films are available all over the world, the vast bulk of them are still only available in India. In his native country, however, Brahmanandam is a national treasure and recognizable on sight. 

Before becoming an actor, Brahmanandam went to college, got a Masters of Arts degree, and worked as a lecturer and occasional performer, giving stage examples of various physical comedy types. His mock performances were impressive and funny enough to attract the attention of playwright Adi Vishnu. Vishnu had connections at a local Telugu TV station, and Brahmanandam was able to get a gig performing on TV. That performance, in turn, attracted film director Jandhyala, and a film career was kicked off.

Brahamnandam has been so prolific, there are few other biographical details to report. He acted. He acted more. He acted even more. He did find time to marry at some point and has two sons, both of whom also have acting credits.

When he cracked 1,000 credits in 2015, Brahmanandam was interviewed by the Times of India, and he was impressively modest about the achievement. He said: 

“Every man aspires to do something with his life, which is why I believe it isn’t me that is the reason. I’m sure every actor works as hard as me, if not more. But people haven’t gotten tired of me yet. […] I do plan to go easy and be more selective with my films from now on. There is an old saying: [translated as] ‘Fresh water replaces the old water, but the moss stays in its place.’ I guess that explains my longevity.” 

Brahmanandam is also very religious (he is a Brahamanist), and claimed to be authoring a book based on his personal relationship to God and his faith journey. To date, he has won six Nandi Awards, the Oscars of Telugu cinema. He has no intention of retiring anytime soon, so his records will only expand. “I’ll continue doing it,” he said, “as long as the show goes on.” Telugu cinema wouldn’t be the same without him. He is now 69 years old. 

Brahmanandam is, however, only the most prolific actor that is still alive, and only holds the record for most film credits. As volumetric records go, Brahmanandam has a ways to go before he can beat the record of the late Jan Leighton, the American actor who, according to the Guinness Book, played more roles than any known actor in history. Leighton’s record includes voice roles, stage performances, commercials, print ads, and occasional film and TV parts. But by Guinness’ estimation, Leighton “played” (or at least dressed as) over 3,000 people in his lifetime. 

Leighton, born in 1921, began securing stage roles in the late ’50s, and appeared on a few TV shows in the 1960s. He was fond of history, and often read historical biographies, allowing him to portray historical figures with aplomb. He usually constructed his own costumes and kept them in his home. According to a 1989 interview with New York Magazine, Leighton owned piles of wigs, shoes, togas, almost 200 hats, and 71 pairs of glasses. According to Leighton’s 2009 obituary in the New York Times, he was credited with more than 2,400 roles. His now-defunct website, however, put that number at well over 3,000. 

Leighton was able to pad out his credits by including modeling work. He dressed as Henry Kissinger and Leonardo da Vinci on covers of New York Magazine, for instance. He was Dracula in a mobile phone ad, and Robert E. Lee in a department store commercial. He even played the voice of John Wayne on the 1981 Kleeer single “Get Tough.” 

As for film credits, Leighton is less prolific. His most visible film role might be playing Albert Einstein in the raunchy (and offensive) 1982 supernatural sex farce “Zapped!”