His sister Sowmya Rao is also an established playback singer who has performed for various films in different languages.

[citation needed] Rao started his career as a child artiste in the year 1987 for the films such as Kendada Male and Elu Suttina Kote.

[citation needed] Rao, aspiring to be a playback singer, re-entered acting in his teens.

He appeared in a few soap operas that included Janani, Chaduranga, Punarjanma, B. Suresha's Sadhane and T. N. Seetharam's Manvantara and Bhageerathi.

He also starred as a teenage lover in the Kavita Lankesh directorial Preethi Prema Pranaya opposite Anu Prabhakar, the same year.

Then came his most successful Kannada film Excuse Me (2003) where he played an anti-hero character alongside Ajay Rao and Ramya.