Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor, producer, and media personality who works in Telugu cinema.

[1] 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.

[17] The following year, Babu co-starred alongside Venkatesh in the critically and commercially acclaimed drama film Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu,[18] which was considered the first Telugu multi-starrer in decades.

[23] 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.

[29] Aagadu, his next release that year, suffered a similar fate,[30][31] despite the film's opening gross being his highest at the time.

[45][46][47] Produced on a budget of ₹75 crore upon release, it received praise for its humor, performances, cinematography, and action sequences, but criticism aimed at screenplay, story and excessive length, and the film was commercially successful grossing more than ₹260 crore worldwide becoming the second highest grossing Telugu movie of 2020.

[48] Babu's 2022 film Sarkaru Vaari Paata also received a mixed response, however, his performance was appreciated by critics.

[49] Sarkaru Vaari Paata grossed ₹180 crores worldwide in its theatrical run and became the third highest-grossing Telugu film of 2022.