After his brief yet successful stint in television shows, where he assisted directors, acted, and wrote the screenplay of shows, Mahesh Rao directed the 2008 Kannada movie Dheemaku, marking his feature film debut. The movie, which he also wrote the dialogues and screenplay of, opened to positive reviews and was an average grosser at the box office. Meanwhile, he continued to collaborate with other directors, penning down the screenplay and dialogues of movies such as Gokula, Vijaylakshmi Singh, and Yogi G Raj. Some of the writer and director`s notable ventures are Bhadra, Endendu Ninagagi, Prachanda, Santhu Straight Forward, and Tarak.