43 years of Mohan Babu: How the versatile actor successfully took Tollywood to the next level

Veteran actor Mohan Babu, born as Manchu Bakthavatsalam Naidu, has been instrumental in bringing the Tollywood film industry to a respectable position in the country. He is celebrating his forty-third year in Telugu cinema and he is the only actor to have done over 500 films in a wide variety of roles. Though the actor had appeared in over twenty Tamil films, throughout his career, the irresistible actor has only devoted himself towards making Telugu films.

On the occasion of Mohan Babu’s forty-three years in Telugu cinema, let's take a look at how he successfully took Tollywood to the next level.

If we talk about Mohan Babu, his powerful dialogue delivery stands out. At a time when the industry was being ruled by Viswa Vikyatha Nata Sarvabhouma, the legendary Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao and ace actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Mohan went on to emerge as an irresistible actor. His choice of movies catapulted him to the stature of Sr NTR and ANR, and these three ruled the Telugu film industry through the 80s, 90s and even to this day.

Mohan Babu made his debut as an actor in the 1974 film ‘Kannavari Kalalu’, in which he played a supporting role. Though he had been roped in to essay negative and supporting roles, he continued to pick diverse roles. His first break came with the 1975 film ‘Swargam Narakam’, directed by Dasari Narayana Rao. He played a comic-villain in the film, which was a big hit and he got his stage name as Mohan Babu.

With the late ace director, Dasari Narayana Rao’s ‘Sivaranjani’, he proved that he is a force to reckon with. He gained more popularity after playing the great villain in the 1978 film. In 1980, he had 23 releases and with this, he became the only Telugu actor to accomplish this feat. He was also one of the actors to be featured in ‘Pedarayudu’ (1995), which was a hit in Tollywood, where he shared screen space with Thalaiva Rajinikanth. He went on to bag Filmfare Awards and continued to deliver hit films by branching out into different genres.

Mohan Babu made a conscious decision have patriotism as the underlining theme in his films which resulted in critical and commercial success. He went on to be part of films with patriotic plots such ‘Assembly Rowdy’, ‘Major Chandrakanth’, ‘Rayalaseema Ramanna Chowdary’, ‘M Dharmaraju MA’, ‘Adavilo Anna’, ‘Collector Garu’, ‘Political Rowdy’ and ‘Gayatri’. In the mid-90s, Mohan Babu began juggling between politics and films, thereby catering to both filmgoers and common people.

In 2007, the actor was honoured with a Padmashri. Mohan Babu has completed forty-three years in the film industry, but this is not the end. He surprised his fans by saying that he will next be seen in the ambitious projects like ‘Ravana Brahma’ and ‘Bhakta Kannappa’, which had already created a buzz on social media and among filmgoers. In the last four decades, Mohan Babu has contributed immensely to Telugu cinema and what better day to commemorate it than today?