He achieved stardom with box-office hits[4][5] such as Srinivasa Kalyanam (1987), Brahma Puthrudu (1988), Prema (1989), Dhruva Nakshatram (1989), Bobbili Raja (1990), and Kshana Kshanam (1991), the latter of which featured at the Fribourg Festival and went on to gather a cult following.

1 (1991), an eccentric cop in both Surya IPS (1991) and Gharshana (2004), an autistic villager in Chanti (1992),[5], in the romantic dramas: Pavitra Bandham (1996), Preminchukundam Raa (1997), Premante Idera (1998), Raja (1999), Kalisundam Raa (2000), Nuvvu Naaku Nachav (2001), Vasantam (2003), Malliswari (2004), Aadavari Matalaku Arthale Verule (2007), and Bodyguard (2012), in the family dramas: Suryavamsam (1998), Sankranti (2005) and Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013), a journalist in Ganesh (1998), in the action dramas: Jayam Manadera (2000), Lakshmi (2006), Tulasi (2007) and Venky Mama (2021), in the comedies: Chintakayala Ravi (2008), Namo Venkatesa (2010), F2 (2019), F3 (2022), and Sankranthiki Vasthunam (2025), in the crime thrillers Eenaadu (2009), Drushyam (2014) and Drushyam 2 (2021), an atheist in Gopala Gopala (2015), a boxing coach in Guru (2017), and a farmer in Narappa (2021).

[14] Venkatesh was born on 13 December 1960 in a Telugu family to film producer and former Member of Parliament, D. Ramanaidu and Rajeswari in Madras (present-day Chennai), India.

His first film as a full-fledged lead was K. Raghavendra Rao-directed Kaliyuga Pandavulu (1986), alongside Khushbu Sundar which was a debut for both of them.

[3][20] Later that year, he played a husband struggling between two wives in the E. V. V. Satyanarayana directed hit comedy drama Intlo Illalu Vantintlo Priyuralu.

[22] His 1999 drama film Raja, where he plays a small time thief who is reformed by his love was also well received by the audience.

[21] In 2007, he starred in two films, Aadavari Matalaku Arthale Verule and Tulasi, both of which grossed over ₹30 crore at the box office.

[5] In the following years, Venkatesh appeared in several films, including Chintakayala Ravi (2008), Namo Venkatesa (2010) and Bodyguard (2012).

[25][26][27] In 2013, Venkatesh co-starred alongside Mahesh Babu in the critically acclaimed drama Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu.