[4] He made his directorial debut in 2016 with Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu, a Kannada drama feature about a man searching for his missing father with Alzheimer’s, with a script that he co-wrote.
[2] Under his banner Lost & Found Films, he co-produced Humble Politician Nograj—a political satire comedy inspired by The Campaign.
He co-wrote the script with Sriram Raghavan, Pooja Ladha Surti (who was also the editor of the film), Arijit Biswas, and Yogesh Chandekarand.
[7] Kavaludaari won Best Movie in "Kannada Cinema Competition" at 12th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2020[8] Rao continued to work in the thriller space with Maestro, which released in 2021.
His next directorial, Sapta Sagaradaache Ello, is a romantic drama which he wrote a long time back.