Nandamuri Balakrishna is the son of a legendary actor and one of the most influential persons in Andhra Pradesh, NTR. But the actor came out of the long looming shadow of his father and created name and fame for himself. He is the biggest crowd puller in masses during his prime.

Personal Life:
Nandamuri Balakrishna was born on 10th June 1960 in Chennai to the legendary Telugu hero and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao and Basava Tarakam. He has six brothers Jaya Krishna, Rama Krishna, Hari Krishna, Mohana Krishna, Jaya Shankar Krishna and Sai Krishna. He has four sisters Daggubati Purandeswari, Bhuvaneswari, Uma Maheswari and Lokeswari.

He was graduated in commerce from Nizam College of Hyderabad and later ventured in to movies. He is currently the chairman of the trust board of 'The Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital & Research Institute' in Hyderabad.

Balakrishna married Vasundhara Devi in 1982 and they have a son Mokshagna Tarakarama Teja, and daughters Brahmini and Tejaswini. His elder daughter Brahmini is married to Nara Lokesh, son of former Chief Minister and TDP president, Nara Chandrababu Naidu and his other daughter, Tejaswini tied the knot with Sribharat, son of MSP Rama Rao and the grandson of Mr MVVS Murthy, who head the prestigious GITAM (Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management) group of educational institutions.

Filmy Career:
Balakrishna first faced camera as a child artist in his father’s direction at the age of 14 in the movie ‘Tatamma Kala’. As a teenager he acted in movies like ‘Dana Veera Soora Karna’, ‘Saleem Anarkali’ and ‘Annadammula Anubandham’. But his father asked him to concentrate on studies and later he made his debut as a hero in ‘Sahasame Jeevitham’. The first big break of his career came in the form of ‘Mangammagari Manavadu’ (1984) directed by Kodi Rama Krishna. He acted as a grandson to Mangamma, played by the legendary Bhanumathi. ‘ApurvaSahodarudu’ (1984) directed by K. Raghavendra Rao which released in the same year also ended up as a big success.  

1986 can be termed as a golden year in his career. That year, he bagged six consecutive super hit films like ‘Desodharakudu’, Seetha Rama Kalyanam, Kaliyuga Krishnudu, Muddula Krishnayya, Anasuyamma gari alludu, Apoorva Sahodarulu. Interestingly of these 6 successes, Muddula krishnayya, Seetarama Kalyanam, Anasuyamma gari alludu were silver jubilee films. And from then there is no looking back for him and he became one of the contenders for the Top one position.

Despite having huge fan following and big hits under belt, Balakrishna’s career always suffered due to the lack of consistency. However, the actor continued to deliver big hits every now and then - Muddula Mavayya (1989), Bhale Donga (1990), Nari Nari Naduma Murari (1991), Lorry Driver (1991) and Talli Tandrulu (1991).

The actor was mostly confined himself to mass and commercial films. His two movies with Singeetham Srinivasa Rao are considered as the most memorable films in the actor’s career, Aditya 369 (1991), a sci-fi movie which deals with an advanced concept like Time Machine and Bairawa Dweepam (1994), a folklore film in which the actor delivered an extraordinary performance. He also went on to deliver several box office hits like Rowdy Inspector, Bangaru Bullodu, Bobbili Simham, Vamsanikokkadu and Peddannayya.

As we entered the new millennium, he shattered all the existing records with his ‘Samarasimha Reddy’ directed by B Gopal and the success was again followed by another Industry hit movie, ‘Narasimha Naidu’. When everyone thought there is no stopping to Balayya’s juggernaut, his career has suffered deeply from 2005 to 2008. Movies like Vijayendra Varma, Veerabhadra, Allari Pidugu, OkkaMagadu, Maharadhi,Pandurangadu and Mithrudu not only left Balakrishna’s career in doldrums but also tarnished his image very badly.

He finally hit back strongly with ‘Simha’ directed by Boyapati Srinu where Balayya played dual role. The movie has rebuilt his lost fame and made his fans celebrate its success in high spirits. The movie was also followed by another string of flops like Parama Veera Chakra, Adhinayakudu, Uu Kodathara Ulikki Padathara and Srimannarayana. However, Sri Rama Rajyam, a remake of Lava Kusa got him good admiration for him as an actor and it also remained as one of the memorable roles in the actor’s career.

After Sriramarajyam, the inconsistency of the actor came back to haunt him. He delivered three back to back duds in the form of Uu Kodathara Ulikki Padathara, Adhinayakudu and Srimannarayana. However he staged a stunning comeback with Legend directed by Boyapati Srinu. He became the first actor in Senior actors to touch the 40 Crore share mark with the film.

Political Career:
The actor during his starting stage of his career helped his father in the election campaigns but was never actively involved in Politics. He later actively campaigned for Telugu Desam Party in 2009 and finally made his political debut in 2014 elections by contesting for Hindupur Assembly segment. He won the seat with a thumping majority and is getting good name from the locals there for being available to people despite having to balance time between films and politics.

Upcoming Movies:

• Untitled film directed by Satyadeva.

Controversy:
Usually non controversial Balakrishna got himself in to trouble after he fired shots in June 2004 at his Jubilee Hills residence on producer Bellamkonda Suresh and his associate, Satyanarayana Chowdhary. Later both the wounded were admitted into Apollo hospital. The actor took refuge in CARE hospital without any justifiable cause but was arrested 3 days later. He was later freed on bail and the case was dismissed after the witnesses turned hostile.

Trivia:

• The actor had two releases on the same day in 1993 – Nippu Ravva and Bangaru Bullodu. It was like almost every theater in the state is playing the actor’s films then.
• The actor was invited as the chief guest to the closing ceremony of the 43rd edition of theInternational Film Festival of India (IFFI) in 2013.
• The actor is actively involved in creating cancer awareness and collecting funds for its eradication in his role as the chairman of the trust board of 'The Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital & Research Institute' in Hyderabad.