In 2012 he married Kirthika M Rao, CO-producer of popular television serials Puttagowri Maduve , Akka , Mangala Gowri Madhuve , Geetha and Nagini-2.

After his successful stint at television serials, Mahesh Rao made his debut through Dheemaku (2008), starring Naveen Krishna in the lead role.

Following the success of Murali Meets Meera, Mahesh Rao's next was Bhadra, a remake of the Telugu movie Ranam, and introduced Daisy Shah pairing with Prajwal Devraj.

He made some changes to the screenplay to suit the nativity of the Kannada audience and the movie went on to become a super hit running 75 days at the box office with overall critics rating it as 3/5 and praising his direction skills.

The performances of Niranjan Shetty, Sindhu Lokanath, Shwetha Pandit and Rangayana Raghu, and the film's direction, screenplay and narration received praise from critics.

Then he went on to direct Endendu Ninagagi which was a remake of Engeyum Eppothum and was a box office failure even after receiving positive reviews from critics.

This film got the final title Santhu Straight Forward and will go on floors February 2016 starring Yash and Radhika Pandit.