Mahesh Babu 4

Mainstream film acclaim and success (2004–2010)

Manjula produced his next film, Naani, directed by S. J. Surya co-starring Amisha Patel. While its simultaneously shot Tamil version New featuring a different cast was commercially successful, Naani flopped at the box office.^[13] He received the Nandi Special Jury Award for his performance in his next film, Arjun, directed by Gunasekhar and produced by Ramesh.^[21] The failure of Naani depressed both Mahesh and Manjula, who took a small break in Goa before resuming their other commitments.^[22] He chose to act in Trivikram Srinivas's Athadu, co-starring Trisha Krishnan, whose script had been approved back in 2002 before the production of Naani and Arjun had begun.^[23] Athadubecame one of the highest grossing films of the year.^[24] The film was commercially profitable venture for the producers and distributors.^[25] The film benefited Mahesh's career as he won the Nandi Best Actor Award for his performance in the role of a hired assassin.^[26]

Mahesh collaborated with Puri Jagannadh in 2006 for the film Pokiri, which was jointly produced by Jagannadh and Manjula.^[27] Made on a budget of ₹100 million and shot within six months,^[28] Pokiri became the highest grossing Telugu film of all time by the end of its run.^[29] Mahesh received praise for his performance, with Y. Sunita Chowdary of The Hindu opining that "Mahesh's understated performance in Pokiri allows him effortlessly to reclaim the title of a star, overshadowing more questionable recent career choices".^[27]He won the Filmfare award for best Telugu actor for the second time.^[30] That same year, his next film, Sainikudu, co-starring Trisha, was released amid huge expectations but flopped at the box office.^[31]

The following year saw Mahesh acting in the film Athidhi, co-starring Amrita Rao marking her Telugu debut. The film was produced by Mahesh's brother Ramesh.^[32] UTV Motion Pictures acquired the film's distribution rights for ₹185 million, which became its first Telugu film venture.^[33] In 2008, Mahesh provided voice-over for the film Jalsa directed by Trivikram Srinivas.^[34]

After Athidhi's release, Mahesh took a break from films for seven months; two months later, he signed Khaleja, but the break was unintentionally extended for two years due to several delays. During this time, Mahesh's grandmother and his wife Namrata's parents died. Krishna was worried about Mahesh's career as the film's shoot was delayed for so long.^[35] Upon release, Khaleja received mixed reviews from critics and was a commercial failure in India.^[36] However, it managed to perform well at the overseas box office.^[37]