Mahesh Babu: Birthday boy's Best performances

Mahesh Babu, who is known for his good looks, charisma and skillful acting, turns 40 today. But he is still the heartthrob of many from the Telugu film industry. Mahesh Babu’s films often become one of the highest grossing films in Tollywood. He ventured into the Telugu film industry at a very young age of five, as a child artist in the 1979 Telugu flick, Needa.

Mahesh Babu was seen in a full-fledged role in a Telugu film, Raja Kumarudu, in the year 1999, and then there was no looking back for the actor. He completed 16 years in Tollywood and is still one of the most phenomenal and notable actors in the industry. Reportedly, Mahesh Babu is also the third highest paid Telugu actor. He is popularly known as Prince, and has given some of the outstanding performances in his film career till date.

Here are some of the best ever performances of Mahesh Babu...

- Pooja Darade

Raja Kumarudu

Raja Kumarudu is Mahesh Babu’s first film with a full-fledged role, that released in the year 1999. The film is directed by K Raghavendra Rao. Raja Kumarudu gave Mahesh Babu a recognition as an actor. The film got a lot of positive response and was a superhit. It was just after his first film that the actor was called as the Prince of Tollywood. Mahesh Babu even won the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut for this film.

Okkadu

Okkadu is a story about a Kabbadi player rescuing an unknown girl from her unwanted marriage. The film is directed by Gunasekhar. With Mahesh Babu as a hero and Prakash Raj playing the role of villain, there is action, fight and drama in this film. The film also stars Bhumika Chawla as the lead actress. Okkadu was a blockbuster and also garnered eight Nandi Awards and four Filmfare Awards South. The superhit film was also remade in Tamil as Ghilli, in Bengali as Jor, and in Hindi as Tevar.

Athadu

Mahesh Babu was praised for his amazing acting in the film Athadu. Directed by Trivikram Srinivas, this action thriller film was highly successful. The film also stars Trisha Krishnan, Sonu Sood and Prakash Raj. Mahesh Babu brilliantly essayed the role two professional killers of Nandu and Malli.

Pokiri

Pokiri, a gangster thriller film, is a total value for money. With action, drama and stunts, this film is a complete package of entertainment. It was Mahesh Babu’s notable performance of an undercover cop which was applauded by the masses. According to Joinfilms.com, the film had a long run at almost all centers and collected Rs 52 crores as lifetime collections. Pokiri was remade in Tamil and Hindi, Kannada and Bengali.

Dookudu

Dookudu, directed by Srinu Vaitla, was released in the year 2011. Mahesh Babu again essayed the role of a super cop in this film. In Dookudu, Mahesh Babu's character has got an amazing style, breathtaking dialogues and lot of fight sequences. Dookudu is a complete action packed drama film.

1-Nenokkadine

Released in the year 2014, 1-Nenokkadine is directed by Sukumar. This film is completely different from the genre of films Mahesh Babu has been acting in. It is a psychological thriller, and Mahesh Babu again proved his effortless acting skills. He portrayed the character of Gautham, who suffers from an integrated disorder where he can’t differentiate between reality and dream. Mahesh Babu has enacted the character very well.