Mohan Babu was born on 19th March 1952. He was born in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. His birth name was Bhaktavatsala Naidu. He was born to Manchu Narayanaswamy Naidu and Lakshmamma. He did schooling in Yerpedu village and Tirupati. He pursued degree in Physical Education at Chennai. Before his foray into the cinema industry he worked has a Physical Education Instructor for a while.

Mohan Babu took up direction before he started his innings as an actor. He made his debut as a full fledged actor with the movie Swargam Narakam (1975). The movie was directed by Dr. Narayana Rao Dasari. This gave him a huge break. He hit the right notes with his selection of movies. He displayed versatility by playing different roles. He did not stick to one role and was open for experiment. In this way he took up character of villain, comedian and hero. He was successful in doing so. He went on to do many movies. The list includes Khaidi Kalidasu (1977), Simha Garjana (1978), Kondaveeti Simham (1981), Mayagadu (1983), Rayudu (1998), Yamadonga (2007), Krishnarjuna (2008), Bujjigadu: Made in Chennai (2008), Pandurangadu (2008). The movies like Devatha (1982), Prathignya (1982), Gruha Pravesam (1982), Billa Ranga (1982) are the movies which top his list.

Mohan Babu is also a successful producer. He produced many movies which included Prathignya (1982), Assembly Rowdy (1991), Major Chandrakanth (1993), Peda Rayudu (1995), Suryam (2004), Raju Bhai (2007), Krishnarjuna (2008).

Mohan Babu was also part of Telugu Desam Party. He served one term as a parliamentarian. He is founder of Sree Vidyanikethan Educational Institutions.