Mahesh Babu is an Indian actor and producer 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. Following his role as the titular protagonist in Balachandrudu (1990) while still a child, his career went on hiatus so he could concentrate on his education until taking on his first lead role as an adult in the 1999 film Rajakumarudu, 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". Pokiri was released on 28 April 2006. The film grossed over 70 crore worldwide in its initial theatrical run and was declared an Industry Hit while remaining as the highest-grossing Telugu film for three years until it was surpassed by Magadheera in 2009. It also became the highest-grossing South Indian film in its original run, surpassing Chandramukhi, and became the first South Indian film to gross over ₹60 and ₹70 crore in a single language. The film altered the landscape of Telugu commercial cinema. It solidified Mahesh Babu's status as a star, transitioning his image from a charming youth icon to a formidable mass hero.

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 crore. The film grossed roughly 112 crore by the end of its lifetime run at the worldwide box office. The film completed 50 days in 312 centres and 100 days in 63 centres. 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 film grossed over 90 crore in its lifetime at the global box office. 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. Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu netted 38.75 crore at the AP/Nizam box office during its run, earning a distributor share of 51 crore at the global box office and was a commercial success. 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,. The film received mixed reviews, with praise directed towards its music, cinematography, action sequences, and Mahesh Babu's performance. However, the complexity of the screenplay and its length garnered criticism. The film eventually became a box office failure. It won three awards from eight nominations at the 4th South Indian International Movie Awards and two awards at the 11th CineMAA Awards. Over time, the film was reevaluated and gained a cult following for its unique narrative, technical finesse and Babu's performance..1: Nenokkadine was released on 10 January 2014 across approximately 1,500 screens during the Sankranti festival season. The film received mixed reviews, with praise directed towards its music, cinematography, action sequences, and Mahesh Babu's performance. However, the complexity of the screenplay and its length garnered criticism. The film eventually became a box office failure. It won three awards from eight nominations at the 4th SIIMA Awards and two awards at the 11th CineMAA Awards. Over time, the film was reevaluated and gained a cult following for its unique narrative, technical finesse and Babu's performance.. It was also listed among Film Companion's "25 Greatest Telugu Films of the Decade." 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. Spyder grossed 92–150 crore against a budget of 120 crore. 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 critics praised Babu's performance. Bharat Ane Nenu grossed around 164 crore at the box office. 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 less favourable reception. By the end of its theatrical run, Maharshi had grossed worldwide. Sarileru Neekevvaru collected ₹46.77 crore worldwide on the first day. Within three days, the film grossed ₹103 crore, and within 10 days, it reached ₹200 crore. Babu's 2022 film Sarkaru Vaari Paata also received a mixed response, however, his performance was appreciated by critics. Sarkaru Vaari Paata grossed crore worldwide in its theatrical run and became the third highest-grossing Telugu film of 2022. In 2024, Babu reunited with Trivikram Srinivas for their third collaboration in the film Guntur Kaaram. In 2025, Babu began filming Varanasi, his maiden collaboration with director S. S. Rajamouli.

Films

All films in this list are in Telugu unless otherwise indicated. + List of Mahesh Babu film credits as actor Year Film Role(s) Notes 1979Needa Child artist 1983Poratam Bujji 1987Sankharavam Raja 1988Bazaar Rowdy Mahesh Babu Mugguru Kodukulu Surendra 1989Gudachari 117 Chinna Koduku Diddina Kapuram Vinod / Pramod 1990Anna Thammudu MuraliBalachandrudu Balachandra 1999Rajakumarudu RajaDebut in a lead role; credited as Mahesh 2000Yuvaraju SrinivasVamsi Vamsi 2001Murari Murari 2002Takkari Donga Raja Bobby Bobby 2003Okkadu Ajay VarmaNijam G. Seetaram 2004Naani Vijay "Viju" / Naani and JaiArjun Arjun 2005Athadu Nanda "Nandu" Gopal / Pardhu 2006Pokiri Pandu / Krishna Manohar IPS Sainikudu Siddharth 2007Athidhi Athidhi 2010Khaleja Alluri Seetharama Raju 2011Dookudu G. Ajay Kumar IPS / Ballary Babu 2012Businessman Vijay Surya "Surya Bhai" Also playback singer for "Theme Music (Bhaag Saale)" 2013Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu Chinnodu 20141: Nenokkadine GauthamAagadu CI G. Shankar / "Encounter" Shankar 2015Srimanthudu Harsha Vardhan 2016Brahmotsavam Ajay Chantibabu 2017Spyder Shiva 2018Bharat Ane Nenu Bharath Ram 2019Maharshi K. Rishi Kumar 25th film 2020Sarileru Neekevvaru Major Ajay Krishna 2022Sarkaru Vaari Paata Mahesh "Mahi" 2024 Guntur Kaaram Bhogineni Veera Venkata Ramana2027 scope="row" Rudhra / Lord Rama Filming

Other roles As a producer + List of Mahesh Babu film credits as a producer Year Film Notes 2020Sarileru Neekevvaru 2022Major TeluguHindi bilingual film 2026Rao Bahadur Presenter only

As a voice actor + List of Mahesh Babu film credits in voice roles Year Film Role(s) Notes 2008JalsaNarrator 2013Baadshah 2016Sri Sri 2018Manasuku Nachindi 2022Acharya 2024Mufasa: The Lion King Mufasa Telugu version

See also List of awards and nominations received by Mahesh Babu G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment

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