Actor and writer · Telugu cinema
Mahesh Manjrekar
Mahesh Manjrekar movies: 15 Telugu films on file (14 as actor, 1 as writer), 2007–2026. Earliest on file: Okkadunnadu (2007). Latest release: Don't Trouble the Trouble (2 October 2026).
- Films on file
- 15 (14 as actor, 1 as writer)
- Years on file
- 2007–2026
- Born
- 16 August 1958 · August birthdays (Wikidata)
- Selected films on file
- Saaho, Vinaya Vidheya Rama, Don Seenu
- Record
- Q3089275 on Wikidata
Mahesh Manjrekar (born Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar, 16 August 1958) is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer who works mainly in Hindi, Marathi and Telugu films. As a director he is best known for Vaastav: The Reality (1999), Astitva (2000) and Viruddh… Family Comes First (2005). His honours include a National Film Award, a Filmfare Award, seven Maharashtra State Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards Marathi, and in 2023 he received the V. Shantaram Award, Maharashtra’s highest film honour. In Telugu cinema he is a regular character actor, with roles in films such as Saaho and Sarkaru Vaari Paata.
Early life and theatre
Manjrekar was born in Mumbai, went to Don Bosco High School and studied at the University of Mumbai. He was drawn to acting early and performed in theatre in college, beginning his professional stage career in 1984 with the Marathi play Aflatoon.
Director
His first screen role was as Inspector Jamdade in the Marathi film Jeeva Sakha (1991). He made his directing debut with the Marathi film Aai (1995), which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Director. Vaastav: The Reality (1999) was a critical and commercial success and brought him a Filmfare Award, and Astitva (2000) won the National Film Award for Best Marathi Feature Film. He followed it with Nidaan, Kurukshetra, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai and Hathyar (2002), a sequel to Vaastav.
Later work as director includes Viruddh… Family Comes First (2005), Lalbaug Parel, Kaksparsh (2012), which won the Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Director, Natsamrat (2016), the P. L. Deshpande biopic Bhai: Vyakti Ki Valli (2019) and Antim: The Final Truth (2021). He also made the Bengali film Ami Shubhash Bolchi (2011) and the web series 1962: The War in the Hills. In 2024 he directed and starred in the Marathi film Juna Furniture, which won him a Filmfare Award for Best Actor.
Actor in Hindi and Marathi films
As an actor he won the IIFA Award for Best Comedian for Kaante (2002). He played Don Javed in Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Hariya Shetty in Dabangg (2010) and Dabangg 3 (2019), and appeared in films such as Wanted, Singham Returns, where he played a chief minister, and Bajirao Mastani, as Shahujiraje Bhosale. He wrote and starred as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Mi Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy! (2009), which the source says became the highest-grossing Marathi film of its time, earning around ₹25 crore.
Telugu films
Manjrekar made his Telugu debut in 2007 as Sona Bhai in Okkadunnadu. He went on to play Daddy in Homam (2008), Don Baba in Adhurs (2010), Divya’s father in Akhil (2015) and Jackie in Guntur Talkies (2016). He appeared as Prince in Saaho (2019) and as the Finance Minister in Sarkaru Vaari Paata (2022).
Other languages
His Kannada debut came as Yousuf Khaleel in Encounter: Daya Nayak (2005), and he entered Tamil cinema as Madhav in Velaikkaran (2017). In 2025 he appeared in the Tamil films Coolie and Thug Life and the Kannada film The Devil.
Television, production and politics
Manjrekar hosted Bigg Boss Marathi from its first season in 2018 until 2023, and earlier competed on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. In 2011 he launched the production company Great Maratha Entertainment with Aniruddha Deshpande; its first film was Fakta Ladh Mhana. He contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Mumbai North West as an MNS candidate but lost. His daughter, Saiee Manjrekar, is an actress.
Career on file
Mahesh Manjrekar has 15 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 2007 to 2026: 14 films as actor and one film as writer. The earliest of them is Okkadunnadu (2007), and the most recent release is Don't Trouble the Trouble (2026). Measured by how many Wikipedia language editions cover them, the best-known titles here are Saaho (2019), Vinaya Vidheya Rama (2019) and Don Seenu (2010). Other recent releases on file are Nagabandham: The Secret Treasure (2026), Yatra 2 (2024) and Rangamarthanda (2023).
Among directors, V. V. Vinayak cast Mahesh Manjrekar most often, in two films. Devi Sri Prasad and S. Thaman each scored two of them, more than any other music director. Across these films the credits on file name 14 different directors, 15 music directors and 62 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 14 of them; they average 150 minutes, and the longest is Saaho at 170 minutes. Ten of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 2000s (2), 2010s (7) and 2020s (6).
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.