Early career and breakthrough (1979–2003)

At the age of four, Babu visited the sets of the Telugu film Needa (1979) where its director Dasari Narayana Rao shot a few sequences of his as a part of the narrative in the presence of the former's brother Ramesh. Needa marked his debut as a child actor.[20] During the shoot of Poratam (1983) at Vauhini Studios, after watching Babu on the sets, director Kodi Ramakrishna suggested to Krishna that he cast Babu in the role of the protagonist's brother. Initially terrified, Babu agreed to act in the film after being persuaded by the film's crew.[20] He went on to act as a child artist in the films Shankharavam (1987), Bazaar Rowdy (1988), Mugguru Kodukulu (1988) and Gudachari 117 (1989). He played a dual role in the film Koduku Diddina Kapuram (1989). Babu then appeared in Bala Chandrudu (1990), and Anna Thammudu (1990). Later, he continued his college studies.[21]

In 1999, Babu made his debut as a lead actor with the film Raja Kumarudu, directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and co-starring Priety Zinta. The film was commercially successful, and people began referring to him with the title Prince.[22] He received the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut.[23] He starred in two films the following year – Yuvaraju and Vamsi. Following their poor performance at the box office, Babu starred in Krishna Vamsi's Murari the next year. He called Murari an important film in his career and the role he played in it one of his favourites.[24][25] Murari was a commercial success and earned him the Nandi Special Jury Award.[23] Though his 2002 releases Takkari Donga and Bobby performed poorly at the box office, Babu received his second Nandi Special Jury Award for his performance in the former.[23]

Babu had two film releases in 2003, the first one being Gunasekhar's Okkadu co-starring Bhumika Chawla, which went on to become the highest grossing Telugu film of the year collecting ₹23 crores at the box office.[26] He won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance in the film.[27] The other release was Teja's Nijam co-starring Rakshita. The film was noted for introducing Dolby EX surround system in Telugu cinema.[28] Though the film was a commercial failure,[29] Babu received praise from the critics for his performance in the film, with Vijayalaxmi of Rediff.com calling him the only reason to watch the film's second half which she termed a routine tale of vendetta.[30] He won his first Nandi Best Actor Award for his performance in the film.[31]