Aadarsh Balakrishna

Aadarsh Balakrishna (born 10 February 1984) is an Indian actor, primarily known for his negative roles in Telugu films. He is also the runner-up of Telugu reality TV show Bigg Boss 1.

Early life
Aadarsh was born on 10 February 1984 in Bangalore. His father, Balakrishna, is a businessman while his mother Uma is a homemaker. He has a younger sister, Apoorva, who is an architect. Aadarsh studied at Sophia High School, Bangalore until 3rd standard. His family then moved to Hyderabad, where he continued his schooling at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Public School and St. Andrews High School. He completed his graduation from Nizam College in 2005–06, majoring in commerce. He was a cricketer and nurtured an ambition to play for India. He represented Hyderabad in various state-level categories and also played for Osmania University.

Kannada film director Prashanth Neel, Sriimurali’s wife, Vidya, and Naresh's second wife, Ramya Raghupathi, are his cousins.

Career
Aadarsh Balakrishna initially aspired to become a cricketer and played at the state level during his teenage years. While training at St. John's Cricket Academy, he was discovered by Nagesh Kukunoor's team, who were searching for a real cricketer to play the role of 'Kamal' in the film Iqbal opposite Shreyas Talpade. After auditioning, he was cast in the role. Iqbal became a critical and commercial success and won a National Award in 2005, produced by Subhash Ghai's Mukta Searchlight Films.

Balakrishna's significant break in Tollywood came with the film Happy Days (2007), directed by Sekhar Kammula. He portrayed Sanjay, a senior bully in an engineering college setting, a role that established his presence as a 'bad guy' in Tollywood. He continued to build his career with successful films like Vinayakudu (2008), directed by Sai Kiran Avidi, and Ride (2009), directed by Ramesh Varma.

Balakrishna has worked with notable directors such as Nagesh Kukunoor, Sekhar Kammula, Gopichand Mallineni, and Ram Gopal Varma. He made his Kannada film debut in Nooru Janmaku, directed by national award-winning director Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar, where he played the second lead. Additionally, he appeared in Govindudu Andarivadele, directed by Krishna Vamsi and Ram Charan.

Apart from his acting career, Balakrishna represents the Telugu Warriors in the Celebrity Cricket League and is considered one of their key players. He gained further recognition as the runner-up in the grand finale of Bigg Boss Telugu Season 1.

Balakrishna is set to play the role of an Indian Research and Analysis Wing agent in Ullu App's upcoming web series Peshawar, based on the 2014 Peshawar school massacre. His character is loosely based on the real-life hero known as 'Black Tiger'.

Film

 * Note: All films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.