Born in a small village near Udipi in coastal Karnataka, with an early ambition to become an Air Force pilot, Belle Shrinivas Rao is today one of the foremost Executive Producers in Hindi Cinema. He initially helped in the local production related works for films like Rajesh Khanna's "Dushman" and Dharmendra's "Pratiggya", as a result of which he caught the attention of director Dulal Guha.

Though intending to learn cinematography, Rao joined Guha in Bombay as a production assistant in May 1975, and started learning all aspects of film-making. He was closely involved with editing, devising shooting schedules and various post-production jobs, which were invaluable training. He worked with Guha on films like "Do Anjaane" (Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha), "Dil Ka Heera" (Dharmendra, Hema Malini), "Dhan Daulat" (Rishi Kapoor), "Do Dishayen" (Dharmendra, Hema Malini), "Khan Dost" (Shatrughan Sinha), "Dhuan" (Mithun, Rakhee) and "Sagar Sangam" (Mithun, Anita Raj, Padmini Kolhapure). His other films include Raj Sippy's "Boxer" (Mithun) and "Sanam" (Sanjay Dutt, Manisha Koirala).

In 1992, Rao worked on Mansoor Khan's "Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander", where he first worked with Aamir Khan. In 1999, when Aamir Khan launched his production house, Rao joined as Line Producer on the production of the film "Lagaan - Once Upon a Time in India", directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. "Lagaan" was a very ambitious project, being not just a period film, but the first to attempt a one-schedule shoot with sync/live sound. This experience honed Rao's skills in this format of filmmaking and is a production system he has now perfected and prefers.

He went on to work with Ashutosh Gowariker on his next film "Swades - We the People" again as Line Producer, and returned to AKP as Executive Producer on "Taare Zameen Par", Aamir Khan's directorial debut.

Raosaab, as he is fondly known, is currently the Executive Producer at Aamir Khan Productions and oversees all AKP films.