Entering the industry as a lyricist with the 2015 movie Bengaluru - 560023, Shailesh Raj mainly works in the Kannada film industry. He is also a dialogue writer who first worked on the 2016 movie, Ananthana Chellata. In 2018 Shailesh made his screenwriting debut with the comedy-drama, Devrantha Manushya. The movie has Pratham, Shruthi and Vaishnavi Menon in important roles and is directed by debutant director, Kiran Shetty.