Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian film actor, producer, media

personality, and philanthropist. One of the highest paid Telugu film actors, Babu has appeared in
more than 25 films, and won several accolades including, eight Nandi Awards, five Filmfare Awards,
three CineMAA Awards, three South Indian International Movie Awards, and one International Indian
Film Academy Award.[2][3] He also owns the production house G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment.
The younger son of veteran Telugu actor Krishna, Babu made his debut as a child artist in a cameo
role in Needa (1979), at the age of four, and acted in eight other films as a child artist. He made his
debut as a lead actor with Rajakumarudu (1999) which won him Nandi Award for Best Male Debut.
Babu achieved his breakthrough with the supernatural drama Murari (2001), and the action
film Okkadu(2003). He went on to act in other commercially successful films such
as Athadu (2005), Pokiri (2006), Dookudu (2011), Businessman(2012), Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle
Chettu (2013), 1: Nenokkadine (2014), Srimanthudu (2015), Bharat Ane
Nenu (2018), Maharshi(2019), and Sarileru Neekevvaru (2020). Pokiri held the record of being
the highest-grossing Telugu film while Sarileru Neekevvaru, his highest grosser, collected over ₹2.6
billion at the box office.[4][5]
Referred to in the media as the Prince of Tollywood, he is one of the most popular and influential
actors of Telugu cinema,[6][7] and is described as the superstar of Telugu cinema by his fans.[8] In
addition to being an actor, he is a humanitarian and philanthropist - he runs a charitable trust and
non-profit organisation, Heal-a-Child.[9] He is also associated with Rainbow Hospitals as their
goodwill ambassador.[10] He plunged into the film exhibition business along with Narayandas Narang
of Asian Group with the inauguration the seven-screen superplex at Gachibowli AMB Cinemas.[11]

Contents

 1Early life
 2Acting career
o 2.1Early career and breakthrough (1979–2003)
o 2.2Mainstream film acclaim and success (2004–2010)
o 2.3Stardom and career setback (2011–2014)
o 2.4Resurgence and recent work (2015–present)
 3In the media
 4Personal life
o 4.1Family
o 4.2Philanthropy
o 4.3Controversy
 5Awards and nominations
 6Notes
 7References
 8External links

Early life
Babu was born on 9 August 1975 in Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India.[12] He is the fourth of
the five children of Telugu actor Krishna and Indira, after Ghattamaneni Ramesh Babu, Padmavathi
and Manjula Swaroop and before Priyadarshini. His childhood was spent mostly in Madras under the
care of his maternal grandmother Durgamma and the rest of his family.[13] Since Krishna was busy
with his film commitments, Ramesh Babu used to look after Mahesh Babu's academic performance.
[12]
 Along with his siblings, Babu used to play cricket regularly at the VGP Golden beach in Madras.
To spend time with him, Krishna used to make sure that his films' shoots would be conducted at
the VGP Universal Kingdom during the weekends.[12]
Krishna also made sure that none of his children would reveal his name during their schooling to
ensure a peaceful environment.[12] He was educated at St. Bede's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary
School, Chennai where actor Karthi was his schoolmate.[14][15] Babu in an interview said that
actor Vijay and he have been longtime close friends and studied at the same college before
establishing themselves in their respective film industries.[16] Babu was an above average student. He
obtained a bachelor's degree in commerce from the Loyola College, Chennai.[17] After graduating, he
met with director L. Satyanand in Vishakhapatnam for further training in acting which went on for
three to four months.[17] Being unable to read and write Telugu, he used to memorise the dialogues
given by his directors during the dubbing phase of his films.[18]

Acting career
Further information: Mahesh Babu filmography

Early career and breakthrough (1979–2003)

At the age of four, Babu visited the sets of the Telugu film Needa (1979) where its director Dasari
Narayana Rao shot a few sequences of his as a part of the narrative in the presence of the former's
brother Ramesh. Needa marked his debut as a child actor.[19] During the shoot of Poratam (1983)
at Vauhini Studios, after watching Babu on the sets, director Kodi Ramakrishna suggested to
Krishna that he cast Babu in the role of the protagonist's brother. Initially terrified, Babu agreed to act
in the film after being persuaded by the film's crew.[19] He went on to act as a child artist in the
films Shankharavam (1987), Bazaar Rowdy (1988), Mugguru Kodukulu (1988)
and Gudachari 117 (1989). He played a dual role in the film Koduku Diddina Kapuram (1989). Babu
then appeared in Bala Chandrudu (1990), and Anna Thammudu (1990). Later, he continued his
college studies.[20]
In 1999, Babu made his debut as a lead actor with the film Raja Kumarudu, directed by K.
Raghavendra Rao and co-starring Priety Zinta. The film was commercially successful, and people
began referring to him with the title Prince.[21] He received the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut.[22] He
starred in two films the following year – Yuvaraju and Vamsi. Following their poor performance at the
box office, Babu starred in Krishna Vamsi's Murari the next year. He called Murari an important film
in his career and the role he played in it one of his favourites.[23][24] Murari was a commercial success
and earned him the Nandi Special Jury Award.[22] Though his 2002 releases Takkari
Donga and Bobby performed poorly at the box office, Babu received his second Nandi Special Jury
Award for his performance in the former.[22]
Babu had two film releases in 2003, the first one being Gunasekhar's Okkadu co-starring Bhumika
Chawla, which went on to become the highest grossing Telugu film of the year collecting ₹23 crores
at the box office.[25] He won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance in the
film.[26] The other release was Teja's Nijam co-starring Rakshita. The film was noted for introducing
Dolby EX surround system in Telugu cinema.[27] Though the film was a commercial failure,[28] Babu
received praise from the critics for his performance in the film, with Vijayalaxmi of Rediff.com calling
him the only reason to watch the film's second half which she termed a routine tale of vendetta.[29] He
won his first Nandi Best Actor Award for his performance in the film.[30]

Mainstream film acclaim and success (2004–2010)

Manjula produced his next film, Naani, directed by S. J. Surya co-starring Amisha Patel. While its
simultaneously shot Tamil version New featuring a different cast was commercially
successful, Naani flopped at the box office.[23] He received the Nandi Special Jury Award for his
performance in his next film, Arjun, directed by Gunasekhar and produced by Ramesh.[31] The failure
of Naani depressed both Babu and Manjula, who took a small break in Goa before resuming their
other commitments.[32] He chose to act in Trivikram Srinivas's Athadu, co-starring Trisha Krishnan,
whose script had been approved back in 2002 before the production of Naani and Arjun had begun.
[33]
 Athadu became one of the highest-grossing films of the year.[34] The film was a commercially
profitable venture for the producers and distributors.[35] The film benefited Babu's career as he won
the Nandi Best Actor Award for his performance in the role of a hired assassin.[36] Athadu collected a
share of ₹25 crores at the box office.[37]
Babu collaborated with Puri Jagannadh in 2006 for the film Pokiri, which was jointly produced by
Jagannadh and Manjula.[38] Made on a budget of ₹100 million and shot within six months,
[39]
 Pokiri became the highest grossing Telugu film of all time by the end of its run, and was screened
at the 7th IIFA Awards held in Dubai.[40] Babu received praise for his performance, with Y. Sunita
Chowdary of The Hindu opining that "Mahesh's understated performance in Pokiri allows him
effortlessly to reclaim the title of a star, overshadowing more questionable recent career choices".
[38]
 He won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for the second time.[41] Pokiri grossed ₹67
crores at the box office.[42] That same year, his next film, Sainikudu, co-starring Trisha, was released
amid huge expectations but flopped at the box office.[43]
The following year saw Babu acting in the film Athidhi, co-starring Amrita Rao marking her Telugu
debut. The film was produced by Mahesh Babu's's brother Ramesh.[44] UTV Motion Pictures acquired
the film's distribution rights for ₹185 million, which became its first Telugu film venture.[45] In 2008,
Babu provided voice-over for the film Jalsa directed by Trivikram Srinivas.[46]