Mahesh Babu (born Mahesh Ghattamaneni, 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor, producer, media personality and philanthropist known for his work in Telugu cinema. He owns the production house G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. The younger son of actor Krishna, Mahesh holds a bachelor's degree in commerce. At the age of four, he made his debut as a child artist in Needa (1979) and acted in eight other films as a child artist. He made his debut as a lead actor with Rajakumarudu (1999) and won the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut.

 

Mahesh received breakthrough with the films Murari (2001) and Okkadu (2003); the former fetched him his first Nandi Special Jury Award and the latter fetched him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. The commercial successes of the films Athadu (2005) and Pokiri (2006) established him in the Telugu film industry. He later went on to act in other commercially successful films such as Dookudu (2011), Businessman (2012), Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013) and Srimanthudu (2015). Till date, he has won seven Nandi Awards, four Filmfare Awards, three CineMAA Awards and two South Indian International Movie Awards.

 

Mahesh is considered as one of the most popular actors in Telugu cinema and his popularity has been documented in several Telugu films. Apart from his film career, Mahesh has also been the brand ambassador for various companies in South India. He is also involved in social welfare activities and has given 30% of his annual income to charities. He was signed as the goodwill ambassador of Heal-a-child foundation in 2013, which is a non-profit organization supporting the families financially where the parents cannot afford medical expenses to their terminally ill children.