One of the most prominent personalities of Kannada cinema and theatre, Karnataka State Award-winner, Mandya Ramesh is an actor, director, and comedian. Mandya began his acting career in the early 1980s and attended a theatre workshop conducted by Ashok Badaradinni. He was also associated with the Neenasam theatre institute and has also worked under the guidance of one of the most prominent actors B. V. Karanth. He found success in theatre as a director and won the Samskaara Bharathi Natya Samaroha Award for Best Young Theatre Director in 1981.

After working in theatre for more than a decade, Mandya made his feature film debut in 1995 with the movie Janumada Jodi. In 1998, the actor won the Karnataka State Award for Best Actor for his performance in the movie Nagamandala. Some of his popular roles have come with the movies Kanasugara (2001), Mata (2006), and Oggarane (2014). He established his own school of theatre arts - Natana - in 2002. His 2017 release includes the movie Nemoda Boolya directed by V. Manohar. In 2018, he was seen in TN Nagesh`s directorial venture, Raama Dhanya, inspired by Kanakadasa`s Ramadhanya Charite. His 2019 release includes Yajamana. In 2021, Ramesh appeared in the horror-thriller movie Krishna Talkies, directed by Vijayanandha.