Aadarsh Balakrishna is an Indian actor, primarily known for his negative roles in Telugu films. He is also the runner-up of Telugu reality TV show Bigg Boss 1.

Aadarsh was born on 10 February 1984 in Bangalore. His father, Balakrishna, is a businessman while his mother Uma is a homemaker. He has a younger sister, Apoorva, who is an architect. Aadarsh studied at Sophia High School, Bangalore until 3rd standard. His family then moved to Hyderabad, where he continued his schooling at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Public School and St. Andrews High School. He completed his graduation from Nizam College in 2005–06, majoring in commerce. He was a cricketer and nurtured an ambition to play for India. He represented Hyderabad in various state-level categories and also played for Osmania University.

Kannada film director Prashanth Neel, Sriimurali’s wife, Vidya, and Naresh’s second wife, Ramya Raghupathi, are his cousins.