M9 News is back with its exclusive feature — the Top 10 Celebrities of April. While April 2025 was relatively calm overall, a few stars still managed to make headlines. Here’s a look at the top 10 celebrities who stood out this past month.
1. Nandamuri Balakrishna
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Nandamuri Balakrishna has been honored with the prestigious Padma Bhushan award for his remarkable contributions to Indian cinema. He received the award from President Droupadi Murmu, appearing in traditional panchakattu attire, reflecting his cultural pride.
Beyond his film career, Balakrishna is also widely respected for his philanthropic work. He is the driving force behind the Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital, providing crucial cancer treatment and services to the underprivileged.
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2. Nani
Natural Star Nani has been making headlines with his aggressive promotions for HIT 3, and his efforts have paid off in a big way — delivering the highest opening of his career.
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Despite the film receiving mixed reviews from the very first show, it was Nani’s relentless dedication and hard work that ensured a strong start at the box office. The passion, energy, and 100% effort he poured into promoting the film — truly his blood and sweat — are nothing short of commendable.
3. Mahesh Babu
Superstar Mahesh Babu has found himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons this April.
Firstly, the Enforcement Directorate summoned him for questioning regarding the fee he reportedly charged from Sai Surya Developers for a real estate endorsement. Naturally, when a name as prominent as Mahesh Babu’s comes up in an ED inquiry, it becomes sensational news.
Adding to the controversy, his Instagram handle posted a promotional photo of PMJ Jewellers featuring him and his daughter — at a time when the nation was mourning the tragic Pahalgam attack. The timing of the post was widely perceived as insensitive and drew criticism online.
These two incidents have kept Mahesh Babu in the spotlight this month — albeit for the wrong reasons.
4. Prabhas` Heroine Imanvi
While the entire nation was mourning the Pahalgam attack, actress Imanvi, the female lead in Prabhas and Hanu Raghavapudi’s upcoming film, unexpectedly found herself in the spotlight — and for the wrong reasons.
A section of social media users identified her as having Pakistani roots and began demanding that Prabhas and the makers at Mythri Movie Makers remove her from the project. In response, Imanvi issued a clarification about her background, explaining her family’s history and when she moved to the United States.
This unexpected controversy brought her into the headlines in April.
5. Mythri Movie Makers
At a time when the entire film distribution and theatrical system is facing a deep crisis, Mythri Movie Makers — led by Naveen and Ravi Shankar — have pulled off something truly unexpected.
The production house made a bold move by releasing two non-Telugu films in two of India’s biggest film industries — Bollywood and Kollywood — in the same week. They launched Sunny Deol’s Jaat in Hindi, and Ajith’s Good Bad Ugly in Tamil, both in a single week. Impressively, both films delivered exactly what fans were hoping for.
This is a remarkable achievement for any production house, especially a regional one. Mythri has once again proven its ability to think big and act even bigger.
6. Allu Arjun-Atlee
Allu Arjun, fresh off the massive success of Pushpa 2, which became a major hit in North India—kicked off his next project with a bang. Teaming up with Tamil director Atlee, he grabbed headlines right from the announcement video released in April.
7. Siddhu Jonnalagadda
Siddhu Jonnalagadda, who recently delivered a blockbuster with Tillu Square—a film so iconic that he’s now more recognized as “Tillu” than Siddhu—returned with Jack. Unfortunately, the film turned out to be an outright disaster.
What shocked both Siddhu and the trade wasn’t just the poor reception, but the disastrous opening itself. It was as if no one even knew the film was releasing — or worse, no one cared. The lack of buzz and abysmal turnout caught everyone by surprise, marking one of the most disappointing openings in recent memory.
8. Jr NTR
Kalyan Ram’s latest film, Arjun S/o Vyjayanthi, hit theatres in April. Interestingly, it was Jr. NTR who hyped the film’s climax to the skies—just like he did with his own film Devara. But in both cases, his judgment turned out to be off the mark. Coincidentally, it was the climax sequences in both films that he misjudged, creating unreasonable expectations. As a result, NTR became a talking topic on social media, with even his own fans urging him to be more cautious when promoting his films—or anyone else’s.
9. Pooja Hegde
Pooja Hegde, who had taken a long break from films, made her comeback with high hopes pinned on Karthik Subbaraj and Suriya’s ‘Retro’. One of her songs from the film even went viral, becoming a chartbuster and a favorite for reels. However, when the film finally released, it was Pooja who faced heavy trolling on social media—a disappointing turn of events at a time when she needed a career boost the most.
10. Gopichand Malineni
When people think of Pan-India films from the Telugu industry, only a few names usually come to mind—like Rajamouli, Sukumar, or Sandeep Reddy Vanga. But now, quite unexpectedly, Gopichand Malineni has made his entry into the Hindi film industry. He earned widespread appreciation from north fans for presenting vintage star Sunny Deol in a stylish action-packed film. While the movie had a mixed run at the box office, Gopichand certainly left a mark on the North Indian audience—and in doing so, he may have just opened the doors for other directors in his league to follow.
