Having started his career as a scriptwriter Shanker Ramakrishnan was associated with the 2009 anthology Malayalam movie Kerala Cafe, for which he wrote and also directed the segment titled Island Express, which featured Prithviraj and Jayasurya. Following his debut, he went on to write the script of Santosh Sivan`s 2011 epic historical drama Urumi, featuring Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead role.

The following year, in 2012, he made his acting debut with Ranjith`s Malayalam satirical black comedy Spirit, which won him a SIIMA Award nomination for Best Male Debutant. He simultaneously pursued his career as a writer, working on the movies Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla, and My Story. Meanwhile, he continued to act in movies like Poppins, Bavuttiyude Namathil, How Old Are You, Love 24x7, White, and Ira. His 2019 release includes 18am Padi, directed by Shankar Ramakrishnan.