Mohan Babu

Some Lesser Known Facts About Mohan Babu

• Mohan Babu was interested in film and theatre from a young age. Still, he started his career as a physical education trainer at Kesari High School in Mylapore, Chennai on his father’s insistence.

• He had a long and close association with the veteran filmmaker and politician Dasari Narayana Rao, who played a key role in Mohan Babu’s film career.  Their association started with the Telugu film Swargam Narakam (1975) in which he played a negative role. It was Dasari Narayana Rao who gave him the stage name Mohan Babu.

  

• Some of the other popular films from this duo are Sivaranjani (1978), O Manishi Tirigi Choodu (1978) as Bheemudu, Jayasudha (1982), Edadugula Bandham (1985) as Bharath Kumar, Na Mogudu Nake Sontam (1989), and Punya Bhoomi Naa Desam (1994) as Bharath.

  

• He acted in a few Tamil films including Annai Oru Aalayam (1979) with actor Rajinikanth, Vetrikku Oruvan with actor Sivaji Ganesan, and Soorarai Pottru (2020) with actor Surya.

  

• In 1982, he founded a production house, Sree Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures (SLPP), and its debut film Pratigna was a commercial success. Some of the other popular and blockbuster films from this production company include Alludugaru (1990), Assembly Rowdy (1991), Rowdy Gaari Pellam (1991), Major Chandrakanth (1993), Peddarayudu (1995) and Rayalaseema Ramanna Chowdary (2000).

  

• He is also the co-owner of production houses, 24 Frames Factory (with son Vishnu Manchu) and Manchu Entertainment (with daughter Lakshmi Manchu).

• He founded the educational trust, Sree Vidyanikethan Educational Trust (SVET), in 1993. Under this trust, there are a range of institutions from schools to professional colleges (engineering, pharmacy, nursing, and management). Since 2022, the Sree Vidyanikethan Educational Institutions group has been known as Mohan Babu University (MBU) with its chancellor as Mohan Babu.

• He served as a Member of the Upper House of the Parliament of India, Rajya Sabha (the Council of States), from 1995 to 2000. During his tenure, he was a member of several committees including the Committee on Human Resource Development (1996 – 1997), the Committee on Urban and Rural Development and the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

• He was a member of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and left the party and politics for a brief period after NTR’s demise.

• In 1997, while returning from the puja ceremony of a film he was producing, he survived a major bomb blast (23 persons were killed and many injured) with injuries.

• He joined the YSR (Yuvajana Sramika Rythu) Congress Party in 2019.

  

• The book launch event of his book Best Dialogues (2017) was held at the House of Commons in the British Parliament in the presence of British Members of Parliament Bob Blackman and Virendra Sharma and Indian High Commissioner officials.

  

• As of December 2024, he has acted in more than 575 films mostly in the Telugu language.