Aadarsh Balakrishna is an Indian actor born on 10 February 1984 in Bangalore, Karnataka. His father Balakrishna is a businessman and his mother Uma is a homemaker; he has a younger sister Apoorva, who is an architect. He studied at Sophia High School, Bangalore (until Standard 3), then at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Public School and St. Andrews High School, Secunderabad, after his family moved to Hyderabad. He graduated in Commerce from Nizam College, Hyderabad (2005-06). A state-level cricketer who trained at St. John's Cricket Academy and played for Osmania University, he was spotted by Nagesh Kukunoor's team while they were casting for a real cricketer for Iqbal. His cousins include Kannada director Prashanth Neel, actress Sriimurali's wife Vidya, and Naresh's wife Ramya Raghupathi. His Hindi film debut Iqbal (2004, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, produced by Subhash Ghai's Mukta Searchlight) won the National Award and established him as an actor with genuine cricketing ability. He made his Telugu debut in Happy Days (2007, Sekhar Kammula) as the senior bully Sanjay, which set him up as a reliable 'bad guy' in Tollywood. He has since appeared in Vinayakudu (2008), Ride (2009), Govindudu Andarivadele (2014), Sarrainodu (2016), PSV Garuda Vega (2017), Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (2018), Colour Photo (2020), Jhansi (2022), Thalli Manasu (2024), and several other films. He is a key player for Telugu Warriors in the Celebrity Cricket League. He married Gulnar Grandly (also known as Gulnar Virk, a Delhi-based model) on 22 May 2016. In 2017, he participated in Bigg Boss Telugu Season 1 on Star Maa, hosted by Jr. NTR, and finished as the first runner-up with 3.25 crore votes - narrowly losing to Siva Balaji.

Hindi film Iqbal (2004, Nagesh Kukunoor) as Kamal - a National Award-winning film; Telugu debut Happy Days (2007, Sekhar Kammula) as Sanjay; villain roles in Vinayakudu (2008), Ride (2009), Govindudu Andarivadele (2014, with Ram Charan), Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (2018, with Jr. NTR), and Jhansi (2022); representative of Telugu Warriors in the Celebrity Cricket League; runner-up in Bigg Boss Telugu Season 1 (2017).

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