Mahesh Babu is an Indian actor known for his work in Telugu cinema. He first appeared in the 1979 film Needa when he was four years old. He continued to perform as a child actor in several films, most of which featured his father Krishna. His first lead role as an adult was in the 1999 film Raja Kumarudu, for which he won the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut. Afterwards, his career stagnated until successes like Murari (2001), Okkadu (2003) and Athadu (2005) brought him fame. In 2006, he played a gangster in the Puri Jagannadh-directed action-thriller Pokiri. The film became the highest-grossing Telugu film of all time, and according to Vogue India, cemented Babu’s reputation as a “superstar”.
In the wake of the failures of Sainikudu (2006) and Athidhi (2007), Babu took a long-term break from cinema for personal reasons. His next project, the fantasy action film Khaleja, was released in 2010 after significant delays. In 2011, he starred in Dookudu, which became the first Telugu film to gross over ₹1 billion. Businessman (2012), his next film, was well received and became one of the year’s highest grossing Telugu films at a time that was particularly harsh on other big-budget productions. The following year, Babu co-starred alongside Venkatesh in the critically and commercially acclaimed drama film Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu, which was considered the first Telugu multi-starrer in decades. He then featured in Sukumar’s 2014 psychological thriller film 1: Nenokkadine. Although Babu’s performance as a schizophrenic rock star was lauded by critics, the film itself received mixed reviews and failed to recover its budget. Aagadu, his next release that year, suffered a similar fate, despite the film’s opening gross being his highest at the time.
His 2015 action-drama Srimanthudu was a commercial success and earned Babu his fifth Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu as well as his eighth Nandi Award in any category, the most by any individual. The film was also his first as a producer. His subsequent film Brahmotsavam (2016) and his first bilingual film Spyder (2017) under-performed at the box office. The actor’s next role was as an inexperienced chief minister in Koratala Siva’s Bharat Ane Nenu (2018). The film was the year’s second highest-grossing Telugu production and reviewers praised Babu’s performance. His following two films, Vamshi Paidipally’s action-drama Maharshi (2019) and Anil Ravipudi’s action-comedy Sarileru Neekevvaru (2020), also made substantial profits despite receiving mixed reception.
Filmography
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Denotes films that have not yet been released |
- All films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.
| Year | Film | Role(s) | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Needa | Unknown | Child actor | |
| 1983 | Poratam | Bujji | Child actor | |
| 1987 | Sankharavam | Raja | Child actor | |
| 1988 | Bazaar Rowdy | Mahesh Babu | Child actor | |
| 1988 | Mugguru Kodukulu | Surendra | Child actor | |
| 1989 | Gudachari 117 | Chinna | Child actor | |
| 1989 | Koduku Diddina Kapuram | Vinod / Pramod | Child actor | |
| 1990 | Anna Thammudu | Murali | Child actor | |
| 1990 | Balachandrudu | Balachandra | Child actor and lead | |
| 1999 | Raja Kumarudu | Raja | First adult lead role Nandi Award for Best Male Debut |
|
| 2000 | Yuvaraju | Srinivas | ||
| 2000 | Vamsi | Vamsi | ||
| 2001 | Murari | Murari | Nandi Special Jury Award | |
| 2002 | Takkari Donga | Raja | Nandi Special Jury Award | |
| 2002 | Bobby | Bobby | ||
| 2003 | Okkadu | Ajay Varma | Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu | |
| 2003 | Nijam | G. Seetaram | Nandi Award for Best Actor | |
| 2004 | Naani | Vijay “Viju” / Nani | ||
| 2004 | Arjun | Arjun | Nandi Special Jury Award | |
| 2005 | Athadu | Nanda Gopal (Nandu) / Parthu | Nandi Award for Best Actor | |
| 2006 | Pokiri | Pandu / Krishna Manohar IPS | Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu | |
| 2006 | Sainikudu | Siddharth | ||
| 2007 | Athidhi | Athidhi | ||
| 2008 | Jalsa | Narrator | ||
| 2010 | Khaleja | Alluri Seetharama Raju | ||
| 2011 | Dookudu | G. Ajay Kumar IPS / Bellary Babu | Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu Nandi Award for Best Actor |
|
| 2012 | Businessman | Vijay Surya / Surya Bhai | ||
| 2013 | Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu | Chinnodu | Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu | |
| 2013 | Baadshah | Narrator | ||
| 2014 | 1: Nenokkadine | Gautham | ||
| 2014 | Aagadu | Encounter Shankar | ||
| 2015 | Srimanthudu | Harsha Vardhan | Also producer Nandi Award for Best Actor Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu |
|
| 2016 | Brahmotsavam | Babu | Also producer | |
| 2016 | Sri Sri | Narrator | ||
| 2017 | Spyder | Shiva | Simultaneously shot in Tamil | |
| 2018 | Bharat Ane Nenu | Bharath Ram | ||
| 2018 | Manasuku Nachindi | Narrator | ||
| 2019 | Maharshi | Rishi | ||
| 2020 | Sarileru Neekevvaru | Ajay Krishna | Also producer | |
| 2021 | Major |
N/A | Producer Simultaneously shot in Hindi |
|
| 2022 | Sarkaru Vaari Paata |
TBA | Filming |