The actor's next role was as an inexperienced chief minister in Koratala Siva's Bharat Ane Nenu (2018). His subsequent film Brahmotsavam (2016) and his first bilingual film Spyder (2017) under-performed at the box office. The film was also his first as a producer. His 2015 action-drama Srimanthudu was a commercial success and earned Babu his fifth Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu as well as his eighth Nandi Award in any category, the most by any individual.

Aagadu, his next release that year, suffered a similar fate, despite the film's opening gross being his highest at the time. Although Babu's performance as a schizophrenic rock star was lauded by critics, the film itself received mixed reviews and failed to recover its budget. He then featured in Sukumar's 2014 psychological thriller film 1: Nenokkadine. The following year, Babu co-starred alongside Venkatesh in the critically and commercially acclaimed drama film Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu, which was considered the first Telugu multi-starrer in decades. Businessman (2012), his next film, was well received and became one of the year's highest grossing Telugu films at a time that was particularly harsh on other big-budget productions. In 2011, he starred in Dookudu, which became the first Telugu film to gross over ₹1 billion. His next project, the fantasy action film Khaleja, was released in 2010 after significant delays. In the wake of the failures of Sainikudu (2006) and Athidhi (2007), Babu took a long-term break from cinema for personal reasons. The film became the highest-grossing Telugu film of all time, and according to Vogue India, cemented Babu's reputation as a 'superstar'. In 2006, he played a gangster in the Puri Jagannadh-directed action-thriller Pokiri. Afterwards, his career stagnated until successes like Murari (2001), Okkadu (2003) and Athadu (2005) brought him fame. Following his role as the titular protagonist in Balachandrudu (1990) while still a child, his career went on hiatus so he could 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. He continued to perform as a child actor in several films, most of which featured his father Krishna. He first appeared in the 1979 film Needa when he was four years old.

Mahesh Babu is an Indian actor known for his work in Telugu cinema. Babu at the audio launch of Selvandhan, the Tamil dubbed version of Srimanthudu, in 2015

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