[5] During his engineering days, Rishi developed a keen interest in acting and started performing with various amateur theatre groups in Mysore.

Rishi continued to perform with established theatre groups in Bangalore until he got an opportunity to appear in a television daily, Anuroopa,[7] which was telecast on Star Suvarna.

His character portrayal in the serial won him Best Actor consecutively for two years at the Star Suvarna Parivar awards.

In 2016, director Suni of Simple Agi Ondh Love Story fame cast Rishi for his thriller comedy film Operation Alamelamma.

The film became a blockbuster hit and Rishi gained huge appreciation for his role as Inspector K.S.Shyam from both critics and as well as by audience.