Mahesh Biography

Mahesh Babu (born Mahesh Ghattamaneni on 9 August 1975 ) is an Indian film actor best known for his work in Telugu cinema. Born to actor Krishna in the Ghattamaneni family, Mahesh Babu faced the camera at the age of four as a child artist in 1979'sNeeda. His first leading role was in the film Rajakumarudu, which was released in August 1999.

Early Life:

Mahesh Babu was born in Chennai, to prominent Telugu Cinema actor Ghatamaneni Siva Rama Krishna and Smt. Indira Devi on 9 August 1975. He is the younger brother of actor turned producer Ramesh Babu Ghattamaneni. He also has two elder sisters, Padmavathi and actress-producer Manjula Ghattamaneni and one younger sister Priyadarshini. All siblings have acted in films as child artistes. Mahesh's childhood was spent mostly in Madras under the care of his maternal grandmother, Smt. Durgamma, and the rest of his family.

His father made sure all the children spent sufficient time with him on location and on his film sets, especially during holidays. Many times, Mahesh has said that this was where his interest for acting began. The film sets were a second playground and he did not hesitate to face the camera when asked to do a small role in his brother Ramesh Babu's debut film, Needa, at the age of four. He acted in seven of his father's films as a child actor.

Mahesh studied at St. Bede's School in Chennai while continuing to attend his dad's filming during holidays. Tamil film actor Surya was one of his schoolmates. Mahesh obtained an Honours Degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai.

Personal Life:

Mahesh dated Bollywood actress and former Femina Miss India Namrata Shirodkar for five years. She was his co-star in the movie Vamsi. They got married on 10 February 2005 in Mumbai. They have two children, son Gautam Krishna (born 31 August 2006) and daughter Sitara (born 20 July 2012).

Popularity:

Mahesh Babu is considered as one of the most popular actors in Telugu cinema. He was listed 5th in the Times 50 Most Desirable Men in India for the year 2011, becoming the only South Indian to have been so. He climbed to the 2nd position of the same list the following year, beating the likes of Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan. In January 2013, Mahesh was ranked 31st on business magazine Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list. Based on recorded earnings between September 2011 and October 2012, Forbes listed Mahesh 15th among India's highest earning celebrities. With earnings of over 422.5 million(US$6.8 million), he was the highest earning South Indian celebrity in 2012.