మహేష్ బాబు
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Awards
Mahesh Babu made his lead debut with Rajakumarudu 1999, winning the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut. His breakthrough came with Murari 2001 and the blockbuster Okkadu 2003. He then starred in Pokiri 2006, Dookudu 2011, and Bharat Ane Nenu 2018, among others. He holds the record for most CineMAA Awards for Best Actor and has seven Nandi Awards.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Mahesh Babu — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Mahesh Babu by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Mahesh Babu — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Mahesh Babu grew up as the fourth of five children in a Telugu family in Madras, the son of actor Krishna and Indira. He spent his childhood in Madras under the care of his maternal grandmother, Durgamma. He attended St. Bede’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School and later earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Loyola College, Chennai.
Mahesh Babu debuted as a child artist in a cameo in Needa 1979 and acted in eight more films before making his lead debut with Rajakumarudu 1999, which won him the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut. His breakthrough arrived with the supernatural drama Murari 2001 and the action film Okkadu 2003. He followed with hits like Arjun 2004, Athadu 2005, and the record-breaking Pokiri 2006, which became the highest-grossing Telugu film at the time. His subsequent hits include Dookudu 2011, Businessman 2012, Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu 2013, Srimanthudu 2015, Bharat Ane Nenu 2018, Maharshi 2019, Sarileru Neekevvaru 2020, and Sarkaru Vaari Paata 2022. Maharshi won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film.
Mahesh Babu married actress Namrata Shirodkar on February 9, 2005, after meeting her on the set of his film Vamsi. The couple has two children: son Gautam Krishna born 31 August 2006 and daughter Sitara born 20 July 2012. He is the son of actor Krishna and comes from a large family including siblings Ramesh Babu, Manjula, and Sudheer Babu. He remains close to his family, especially his brother Ramesh Babu.
Mahesh Babu is among the highest-paid Indian actors and has won seven Nandi Awards, five Filmfare Awards, three CineMAA Awards, three SIIMA Awards, and one IIFA Award. He won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film for Maharshi 2019. He donates 30% of his annual income to charities and has adopted two villages to develop as model villages. He was named the Most Desirable Man in India by The Times of India in 2013. Fans remember him as the Superstar of Telugu cinema, with a career spanning over two decades and a reputation for never doing remakes.
The complete filmography of Mahesh Babu — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Mahesh Babu — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Mahesh Babu — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Who Cares and Remembers If My Last Film Was a Success? I Need to Work Harder.
When My Film Flops, I Believe It Is My Mistake. There Have Been Times When I Didn’t Come Out of My House Because My Films Didn’t Do Well. I Lock Myself in for Months. I Don’t Talk to People. I Feel Bad for Producer, Director, for Those Who Lost Money. It’s Never About Myself or My Career Alone.
Being a Father Is the Most Important Thing, If You Ask Me. It Changed Me as a Person and Gave Me an All New Life.
As Long as I Am Acting, I Will Do Only Telugu Films. I Want to Take Telugu Films to the World. Everyone Should Talk About Our Films.
I Don’t Have Any Dream Role. I Give My 100% to Every Character I Play, and When the Film Clicks, It Automatically Becomes a Dream Role.
I Don’t Want to Smoke on Screen, as I Will Be Sending a Wrong Message to My Fans, and I Appeal to My Costars Too, to Avoid Smoking Scenes If Possible. When People Say They Take Hits and Flops in Their Stride, I Personally Feel That They Are Just Lying. of Course, I’m Upset When My Movies Flop. I Take It Very Personally.
I Struggled to Kick the Habit – I Would Make a Decision to Give up Smoking, but It Was Hard. I Couldn’t Resist the Urge to Steal a Smoke. It Was at That Time That I Was Gifted Allen Carr’s Book ‘the Easy Way to Stop Smoking.’ After I Read That Book, I Didn’t Touch a Fag Again.
The Only Thing I Have Learn Over the Years Is That If You Enjoy Your Work and Put in the Best Efforts, It Will Show. If You Follow This Process, Things Work Out. but If You Go Chasing a Formula, Success Will Elude You.
When I Work on a Movie, I Never Aim for Records, Collections or the Number One Position. I Always Concentrate on My Work and Look for Ways to Improve My Acting Abilities. I Also Advise My Co-stars Not to Concentrate on These Pretty Issues and Just Focus on Acting.
Over the Years, with All the Experience, I’ve Become More Mature About the Subjects I Pick. I Have a Better Understanding of What Works at the Box Office. Once the Story Is Finalized, I Surrender to the Director and Follow Him. After That, My Performances Speak for Themselves.
I Always Believe That One Can’t Interfere in Another’s Work. Once I Start Work on Any Film, I Surrender Myself Completely and Blindly Follow the Director.
Little-known facts about Mahesh Babu — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
He met his wife Namrata Shirodkar on the set of his film Vamsi.
Suriya, Karthi, and Vaibhav were his childhood school friends in Chennai.
He has never acted in a remake, a rare distinction among Indian actors.
The Times of India voted him the 2nd Most Desirable Man in 2012.
He has won seven Nandi Awards: three for Best Actor, three for Best Actor in Special Jury, and one for Best Male Debut.
He has siblings Ramesh Babu Ghattamaneni, Manjula Ghattamaneni, and Sudheer Babu.
He supported Farhan Akhtar’s MARD campaign and voiced the Telugu version of a poem by Javed Akhtar.
The Times of India elected him the Most Desirable Man of India in 2013.
He is a fan of his father, actor Krishna, and actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao.
He has a son Gautam Krishna born 31 August 2006 and a daughter Sitara born 20 July 2012.
He is the son of actor Krishna.
The Times of India voted him the 5th Most Desirable Man in 2011.
He spent his childhood in Madras under the care of his maternal grandmother, Durgamma.
He has won three CineMAA Awards for Best Actor, the most by any actor.
He is particularly close to his brother Ramesh Babu.
At one point, he was the second-highest paid actor in India after Rajinikanth.
His dialogue delivery and running style are distinctive.
He donates 30% of his annual income to charities, many unpublicised. In August 2013, he joined the MARD campaign and voiced the Telugu poem by Javed Akhtar. He became goodwill ambassador of Heal-a-child Foundation in 2013.
Forbes India named him the highest-earning celebrity in South India in 2015.
In October 2014, he donated 2 crore rupees to the Andhra Pradesh relief fund for Cyclone Hudhud reconstruction.
He adopted two villages, one in Andhra Pradesh and one in Telangana, and is developing them into model villages.
He funded heart operations for 99 underprivileged children through Andhra Hospitals.
His awards include seven Nandi Awards, five Filmfare Awards, three CineMAA Awards, three SIIMA Awards, and one IIFA Award.
He has never appeared shirtless in a film.
He is the only Telugu actor to win five Filmfare Best Actor awards in 17 years, including a three-year break.
He endorses about a dozen South Indian brands. In 2007, he signed a five-year endorsement with Thums Up, replacing Chiranjeevi in Andhra Pradesh.
Raised in Chennai, he speaks Telugu and Tamil fluently but cannot read or write them. He studied Hindi as a second language in school.
The Times of India ranked him 12th in 2010, 1st in 2013 beating Hrithik Roshan and others, and 6th in 2014.
He is often called the most popular actor in Tollywood.
He owns a production house.
He has six 100-crore club films and four 200-crore films in India, and ten films that earned over one million dollars in the United States.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Mahesh Babu.
Celebrities similar to Mahesh Babu — same craft, ranked by reach.
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