The filmography of Mahesh Babu, an Indian actor known for his work in Telugu cinema, includes 39 films between 1979 and 2020. He first appeared in the 1979 film Needa when he was four years old, and continued to perform as a child actor in several films, most of which featured his father Krishna. After starring as the hero in Balachandrudu (1990) while still a child, Babu put his career on hold to concentrate on his education until taking on his first lead role as an adult in the 1999 film Raja Kumarudu, for which he won the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut. Afterwards, his career stagnated until successes like Murari (2001), Okkadu (2003) and Athadu (2005) brought him fame. In 2006, he played a gangster in the Puri Jagannadh–directed action-thriller Pokiri. The film became the highest-grossing Telugu film of all time and cemented Babu's reputation as a "superstar". In the wake of the failures of Sainikudu (2006) and Athidhi (2007), Babu took a long-term break from cinema for personal reasons. (Full list...)