Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to prominent Telugu Cinema Actor Krishna Ghattamaneni and Smt. Indira Devi on August 9, 1975. He is the younger brother of actor turned producer Ramesh Babu Ghattamaneni. He also has two elder sisters, Padmavathi and actress-producer Manjula Ghattamaneni and one younger sister Priyadarshini. Mahesh's childhood was spent mostly in Madras under the care of his paternal grandmother Smt. Durgamma and the rest of his family. Mahesh studied at St. Bede's School in Chennai while continuing to attend his dad's filming during holidays. Mahesh obtained an Honours Degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. He started his acting career by playing a small role in his brother Ramesh Babu's debut film, Needa (1979), at the age of 4. He was later seen in films such as Poratam (1983), Sankharavam (1987), Bazaar Rowdy (1988), Mugguru Kodukulu (1988), Gudachari 117, Koduku Diddina Kapuram (1989), Balachandrudu (1990) and Anna Tammudu (1990). Mahesh Babu acted in seven of his father's films as a child actor.