South superstar Mahesh Babu, known as the Prince of Tollywood, is celebrating his 50th birthday today. Born on 9 August 1975, Mahesh Babu is not only a great actor but also a successful producer. The magic of his films works in South as well as North India. Mahesh Babu started his career at the age of just four as a child artist in the 1979 film Needa. After this, he worked as a child artist in many films till 1990.

Mahesh Babu's debut as a lead hero was in 1999 with the film Raja Kumarudu (Prince No.1), in which Preity Zinta was seen with him. This film was a hit and he got the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut. He got special recognition in the industry with 2001's Murari (Rowdy Cheetah) and 2003's Okkadu(The One). He won his first Filmfare Award (Telugu) for Okkadu. After this, Mahesh Babu gave continuous hit films - Athadu (2005), Pokiri (Cheetah – The Power of One, 2006), Dookudu (The Real Tiger, 2011), Businessman (Number One Businessman, 2012), Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (Sabse Badhkar Hum Do, 2013), Srimanthudu (The Real Tevar, 2015), Bharat Ane Nenu (Dashing CM Bharat, 2018), Maharshi (2019), Sarileru Neekevvaru (2020), Sarkaru Vaari Paata (2022) and the recent Guntur Kaaram (2024) performed brilliantly at the box office.

Mahesh Babu these days S.S. Mahesh Babu is in the news for his ambitious film SSMB 29, which will also star Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran in important roles. The film is being made on a large scale and is expected to release in 2026. Talking about his personal life, Mahesh Babu married Bollywood actress Namrata Shirodkar in 2005. The two met on the sets of the film Vamsi in 2000. Before marriage, Mahesh Babu had put a condition to Namrata that she would not work in films after marriage. Namrata accepted this condition and distanced herself from films to focus on the family. The couple has two children - son Gautam and daughter Sitara.