Nandamuri Balakrishna (born 10 June 1960), simply known as Balakrishna or Balayya or NBK, is an Indian actor, producer and politician who works in Telugu cinema. He appeared in more than 100 Telugu films over forty years in a variety of roles and established himself as one of the leading actors in the industry. He won three Nandi Awards and one South Indian International Movie Award. He is an elected member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Hindupuram constituency since 2014.
The sixth son of veteran Telugu film actor and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. T. Rama Rao, Balakrishna entered the film industry as a child artist at the age of 14 with the film Tatamma Kala (1974) and has acted in more than a hundred feature films in varied roles. He has achieved commercial success, since the 1980s, in films such as, Sahasame Jeevitham (1984), Janani Janmabhoomi (1984), Mangammagari Manavadu (1984), Apoorva Sahodarulu (1986), Muvva Gopaludu (1987), Muddula Mavayya (1989), Nari Nari Naduma Murari (1990), Lorry Driver (1990), Aditya 369 (1991), Rowdy Inspector (1992), Bangaru Bullodu (1993), Bhairava Dweepam (1994), Peddannayya (1997), Samarasimha Reddy (1999), Narasimha Naidu (2001), Chennakesava Reddy (2002), Simha (2010), Legend (2014), Gautamiputra Satakarni (2017), Akhanda (2021) and Veera Simha Reddy (2023). Many of these films earned him critical accolades as well.
He has also acted in biographical, historical and hagiographical films. He played poet Vemulawada Bheemakavi in Vemulawada Bheemakavi (1976); Abhimanyu in Daana Veera Soora Karna (1977); Jahangir in Akbar Salim Anarkali (1979); Narada in Sri Tirupati Venkateswara Kalyanam (1979); Sidda in Srimadvirat Veerabrahmendra Swami Charitra (1984) which was screened at the Moscow Film Festival; Krishnadevaraya in Aditya 369 (1991) which was screened at the International Film Festival of India; Satya Harischandra and Dushyanta in Brahmarshi Vishwamitra (1991); Lord Krishna and Arjuna in Sri Krishnarjuna Vijayam (1996); Pundarika in Pandurangadu (2008); his father N. T. Rama Rao, in NTR: Mahanayakudu (2019) and NTR: Kathanayakudu (2019); and Lord Rama in Sri Rama Rajyam (2011) which received special mention at the International Film Festival of India.
In his 100th film, he played Gautamiputra Satakarni, second-century ruler of the Satavahana dynasty in the epic war film Gautamiputra Satakarni (2017). The film was screened at the first "Edinburgh Festival of Indian Films and Documentaries". Balakrishna has received three state Nandi Awards for Best Actor for his works in Narasimha Naidu (2001), Simha (2010), and Legend (2014) as of 2014. In 2014, he received the South Indian International Movie Award for best actor for his work in Legend (2014 film) . Balakrishna serves as the Chairman of Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital and Research. He is also founder of the NBK Films production house.
Early life and family
Nandamuri Balakrishna was born on 10 June 1960 in Madras (present-day Chennai, Tamil Nadu) to Telugu actor and three-time Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. T. Rama Rao and his wife Basavatarakam. As the Telugu film industry was based in Madras at that time, he spent his entire childhood in Madras. During his adolescence, he moved to Hyderabad following the shift of the Telugu film industry to that city. He earned a bachelor's degree in commerce from Nizam College, Hyderabad.
In 1982, at the age of 22, Balakrishna married Vasundhara Devi, and they have three children: two daughters, Nara Brahmani and Tejaswini Mathukumilli and a son, Nandamuri Mokshagna Taraka Rama Teja. Balakrishna's elder son-in-law Nara Lokesh is a politician and son of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu. His younger son-in-law Sribharat Mathukumilli is the grandson of M.V.V.S. Murthi and is the current president of Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management.
