He was born in Thrissur to Raghunath Kumar, a government employee (retired) and Usha Devi. Rakesh's primary education was at CMS Boys, Thrissur. He then completed his undergraduate degree from Kerala Varma College. After that, he completed his civil engineering degree from Government Engineering College, Thrissur. Later, after a gap of seven years, he completed his two-year MSW studies at Kalady Sanskrit University.

Rakesh started his career by working in plays. He entered the film industry in 2016. He started by working as an assistant writer for Thrissur Gopalji in the scriptwriting of a film. After that, he worked as an assistant to Suraj Venjaramood in the film "Android Kunjappan". Then he worked as an assistant director to K Sethunath in the film "Liquor Island". Along with working as an assistant director in the film "Nna Than Kes Kodu", he also played the role of CPO Rakesh Haridas.