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. All siblings have the rare honor of having acted in films as child artistes. Mahesh’s childhood was spent mostly in Madras under the care of his paternal grandmother Smt. Durgamma and the rest of his f
amily. His father made sure all the children spent sufficient time with him on location and on his sets, especially during holidays. Mahesh many times said that this was where his interest for acting began. The film sets were a second playground and he did not hesitate to face the camera when asked to do a small role in his brother Ramesh Babu‘s debut film, Needa at the age of 4. Mahesh studied at St. Bede‘s School in Chennai while continuing to attend his dad’s filming during holidays. Few of his schoolmates at St.Bede's were Surya (Tamil film actor) and Vishnuvardhan (Tamil film director). Mahesh obtained an Honours Degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. Mahesh Babu acted in seven of his father's films as a child actor.
