How high is Mahesh Babu aiming with Srimanthudu?

At the music launch of Srimanthudu on July 18, Mahesh Babu did something not usually associated with Telugu superstars. He apologised.

"The last time I disappointed you. If I was at fault, please forgive me," he said, perhaps referring to his last two releases, 1 Nenokkadine and Aagadu which did not set the Godavari on fire. "For this birthday, I hope you will give me a big gift making Srimanthudu a huge hit,'' he added, emphasising that the film that will release on August 7, will appeal to his fans - kids and elders alike.

Srimanthudu which means a billionaire, is releasing at a very interesting time in Telugu cinema. Baahubali which hit over for thousand screens on July 10, has not only taken Tollywood to a global audience but also raised the bar. It is in this atmosphere of new-found respect for what is dished out of the studios of Hyderabad that Mahesh Babu is hitting the big screen. The "Prince" will be expected to follow in the footsteps of the success SS Rajamouli's story of the royal Mahishmati kingdom earned.

Mahesh was quick to tweet his appreciation of what Rajamouli, with who he will be working after the second part of Baahubali is finished, had achieved. "It is a proud moment for all of us. It just goes to show that a director-driven film with content will surely work," he told me. And does he feel burdened by the expectations of the fans ahead of Srimanthudu? "Expectations are always high for all my films. Having said that, I above all, need to surpass my own expectations with each film that I do."

Mahesh, whose films are known for being high on style quotient, clearly is competing in his own space. "Srimanthudu is a very strong story and my character is very new, very strong in body and mind. It is very different from my roles in say, Businessman or Dookudu," he says. The movie's trailers and songs are already creating quite a buzz in the online space. And that Mahesh is confident of the product is evident from the fact that he has also turned producer with Srimanthudu.

Mahesh comes from a filmy family, his father Krishna lorded over the Telugu film industry in the '70s and the '80s, and has over 350 films to his credit. In comparison, Mahesh has maintained a slow pace, doing just 20-odd movies since he made his debut as leading man in 1999.

"I try to do as much as I can but I simply can't shoot two films at a time. Getting in and out of a character takes its own time for me. I am making a conscious effort to do two films a year. Hope it works out," says Mahesh, conscious that fans would like him to increase his 70mm output.

That is not an unwarranted expectation given the fact that several of his movies have scorched the silver screen. If Okkadu - the story of a kabbadi player who plays a life changing match in 2003, won every possible award that year, three years later, Pokiri - the story of a cop who masquerades as an underworld operative, was remade with equal success into Tamil (Pokkiri) with Vijay and Hindi (Wanted) with Salman Khan.

Despite being brought up in Chennai and comfort with the Tamil language, this Madras boy has stayed away from Tamil cinema. "Telugu cinema is the cinema that I know and I am happy working here. Very happy. Having said that, I was born in Chennai and I speak Tamil fluently. For now, we will be releasing Srimanthudu in Tamil (dubbed version ) simultaneously for the first time," says Mahesh.

The 39-year-old actor who is a permanent fixture in the annual list of desirable men, put out by different publications, believes in the "keep it simple" mantra. I ask him if he likes what he sees in the mirror every day.

"I am assuming what I see in the mirror is not that bad," he replies and laughs. "I used to experiment earlier but now I like to keep it simple. I have a hairstylist who takes care. On the clothes front, I have a designer who sits with the director for each film to chalk out a look for me based on the script."

The script on the personal front does not include a political role for Mahesh Babu. "I have never known or understood that space at all," says Mahesh, when I ask him if politics in real life interests him, given that his father too dabbled with it briefly in the '80s. Most Telugu film stars - Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan, Balakrishna, Roja, Mohan Babu, Vijayshanti - have donned political avatars. Mahesh's own brother-in-law, industrialist Jay Galla is a TDP MP in the present Lok Sabha.

Incidentally, Jay Galla is the only Twitter handle, Mahesh follows on the microblogging site. But that, I guess, would be reading a bit much!