Mahesh Babu turns 44: What makes him South India's 'most followed' star

Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu turns 44 on Friday, and wishes have been pouring in for the actor. One of the most popular actors in the Telugu film industry, he is the son of veteran Telugu actor Krishna. Mahesh Babu, who was last seen in Maharshi, is currently working on his next Sarileru Neekevvaru. He has reportedly taken a break from his shooting location to spend the day with wife Namrata Shirodkar and his children.

To celebrate his birthday, the makers of Sarileru Neekevvaru unveiled a special clip from the film.

Mahesh Babu has been active on social media platforms, including Twitter where he has 7.99 million followers. With over 3 million followers on Instagram also, Mahesh Babu is the 'most followed' star in South India. While he shares first looks and pictures from his movies on Instagram, once in a while, he gifts fans a peek into his personal space, too—sharing photographs with family, and some throwback pictures form his childhood, too. On Twitter, where he is very active, he shares snippets from family time and also tweets on current events, be it politics, entertainment or sports. He recently also shared a video of his daughter Sitara who turned seven. The actor is equally active on Facebook, where he has over 5 million followers. It is probably this active interaction on social media, that too, on all platforms alike that fetches him this massive following—outpacing other superstars from the south.

The actor, however, seems to be careful about being too personal on social media or sharing intimate details. It is a fine line he treads. Breaking conventions, last year, he shared a photograph of him kissing his wife, and it went viral. Speaking in an interview, he said he was immensely happy when that photo was clicked, during a party to celebrate the success of his film Bharat Ane Nenu. After two successive films failed to perform well, Bharat Ane Nenu, where he essayed the chief minister of an undivided Andhra Pradesh, went on to break box office records. “I’d not been this happy in a long time. And I really felt so much love for Namrata because she had gone through all that stress with me,” he had said.

Mahesh Babu also launched his clothing brand Humbl, earlier this week.