Son of a Telugu film actor and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. T. Rama Rao, Balakrishna entered the film industry as a child artist at the age of fourteen with the film "Tatamma Kala" (1974) and has acted in more than a hundred feature films in varied roles. He has achieved commercial success since the 1980s in films such as "Sahasame Jeevitham" (1984), "Janani Janmabhoomi" (1984), "Mangammagari Manavadu" (1984), "Apoorva Sahodarulu" (1986), "Muvva Gopaludu" (1987), "Muddula Mavayya" (1989), "Nari Nari Naduma Murari" (1990), "Lorry Driver" (1990), "Rowdy Inspector" (1992), "Bangaru Bullodu" (1993), "Bhairava Dweepam" (1994), "Peddannayya" (1997), "Samarasimha Reddy" (1999), "Narasimha Naidu" (2001), "Simha" (2010) and "Legend" (2014) some of which earned him accolades.