In 2004, he was spotted in Naani, a movie produced by his sister Manjula, as well as Arjun, which was produced by his brother Ramesh Babu. His emotional performance in Arjun (2004) earned him the Nandi Special Jury Award. A year later, in 2005, Mahesh tied the knot with Namrata Shirodkar whom he had been dating for nearly five years.