Nandamuri Balakrishna (born June 10, 1960), also known mononymously as Balakrishna or NBK, is an Indian actor, producer, and politician who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He made his screen debut as a child artist in Tatamma Kala (1974) and transitioned to leading roles a decade later with Sahasame Jeevitham (1984) and Mangammagari Manavadu (1984).
During the late 1980s and 1990s, Balakrishna established himself as a mainstream star with Muvva Gopaludu (1987), the science fiction film Aditya 369 (1991), the fantasy adventure Bhairava Dweepam (1994), and Bobbili Simham (1994). For his performance in Narasimha Naidu (2001), he won the Nandi Award for Best Actor, having previously earned the award for Mangammagari Manavadu (1984). He received a third Nandi Award for Best Actor for the action drama Simha (2010), followed by a fourth win for Legend (2014).
His notable releases over the following years included the historical drama Gautamiputra Satakarni (2017), the two-part biographical feature N.T.R: Kathanayakudu (2019) and N.T.R: Mahanayakudu (2019), Akhanda (2021), Veera Simha Reddy (2023), Bhagavanth Kesari (2023), and Daaku Maharaaj (2025).
