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

personality, and philanthropist known for his works in Telugu cinema. He owns the production
house G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. The younger son of veteran Telugu actor Krishna,
Mahesh made his cameo as a child artist 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) and won
the State Nandi Award for Best Male Debut.
Mahesh received 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 Arjun (2004), Athadu (2005), Pokiri (2006), Dookudu (2011), Businessman (2012), Seethamma
Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013), 1: Nenokkadine (2014), Srimanthudu (2015), and Bharat Ane
Nenu (2018), some of which rank among the List of highest-grossing Telugu films. To date, he has
won eight Nandi Awards, five Filmfare Awards, three CineMAA Awards, three South Indian
International Movie Awards and one International Indian Film Academy Award.
Mahesh has been cited in the media as one of the most attractive male celebrities in India. His
accomplishments have established him as a leading actor in Telugu cinema.[3] Referred in the media
as the Prince of Tollywood, he is one of the most popular and influential actors of Telugu
cinema,[4][5] and is described as the superstar of Telugu cinema by the audience.[6] In addition to his
acting career, Mahesh is an active humanitarian and philanthropist through his charitable trust and
non-profit organization Heal-a-Child.[7] He is also associated with Rainbow Hospitals as their goodwill
ambassador.[8]

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.[20] He received the Nandi Special Jury Award for his
performance in his next film, Arjun, directed by Gunasekhar and produced by Ramesh.[28] The failure
of Naani depressed both Mahesh and Manjula, who took a small break in Goa before resuming their
other commitments.[29] 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.[30] Athadu became one of the highest-grossing films of the year.[31] The film was commercially
profitable venture for the producers and distributors.[32] The film benefited Mahesh's career as he won
the Nandi Best Actor Award for his performance in the role of a hired assassin.[33] Athadu collected a
share of ₹25 Crores at the boxoffice.[34]
Mahesh collaborated with Puri Jagannadh in 2006 for the film Pokiri, which was jointly produced by
Jagannadh and Manjula.[35] Made on a budget of ₹100 million and shot within six
months,[36] 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.[37] Mahesh 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".[35] He won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for the second time.[38] Pokiri grossed
67 crores at the boxoffice.[39] That same year, his next film, Sainikudu, co-starring Trisha, was
released amid huge expectations but flopped at the box office.[40]
The following year saw Mahesh acting in the film Athidhi, co-starring Amrita Rao marking her Telugu
debut. The film was produced by Mahesh's brother Ramesh.[41] UTV Motion Pictures acquired the
film's distribution rights for ₹185 million, which became its first Telugu film venture.[42] In 2008,
Mahesh provided voice-over for the film Jalsa directed by Trivikram Srinivas.[43]
After Athidhi's release, Mahesh took a break from films for seven months; two months later, he
signed Khaleja, but the break was unintentionally extended for two years due to several delays.
During this time, Mahesh's grandmother and his wife Namrata's parents died. Krishna was worried
about Mahesh's career as the film's shoot was delayed for so long.[44] Upon release, Khaleja received
mixed reviews from critics and was a commercial failure in India.[45] However, it managed to perform
well at the overseas box office.[46]