Born on 13 July 1939 in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, Mehra started in the late 1950s as a production controller.

Prakash Mehra also directed & produced Zindagi Ek Jua with actor Anil Kapoor in 1991, which was not a commercial success.

Mehra received a lifetime achievement award from the India Motion Picture Directors Association (IMPDA) in 2006.

In the late eighties he tried a joint venture to make the movie The God Connection with Frank Yandolino.

The movie was to include Hollywood actors such as Charles Bronson among others, but the project though funded heavily initially, never came to fruition.