Krishna was born to Veeraraghavayya Chowdhary and Nagaratnamma Ghattamaneni in a remote village called Burripallem, near Tenali in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. He was the eldest of the five children from a middle income agrarian family. He could not afford to have convent education, so he attended the school in his village to get his primary education before moving to Tenali and Narsapur to do his S.S.C and Intermediate. Impressed by his scholastic achievements, his father raised money to send his son to the prestigious C.R.R. college in Eluru. There, he shared a room with two aspiring actors, Shoban Babu and Murali Mohan, who later became stars in their own right. Krishna played an active role in various cultural events organized by his college. His performance in the play "Cheesina Paapam Kaasiki Velleena" brought him critical acclaim, thus encouraging him to pursue acting more seriously. After he graduated from college, he married Indira Devi on November 1, 1962. She provided him emotional support during his salad days. In 1965, she gave birth to their first child Ramesh Babu Ghattamaneni about the same time when Krishna made his feature film debut with "Tenemanasulu", which became a big hit and made him an overnight star. He soon developed a reputation as a trend-setter by starring in the first Telugu detective film "Gudachari 116." He was the hero of the first Telugu cowboy film in "Mosagallkau Mosagadu." He played a James Bond type in "Agent Gopi" and became known as "Andhra James Bond" during that time. He also starred in "Alluri Sitarama Raju," which is the first color scope film. He later starred in the first 70 MM film that he also produced and directed titled "Simhasanam." "Simhasanam" was the first of 17 feature films he directed. In 1968, Krishna's daughter Padmavathi was born. In 1969, Krishna married his frequent leading lady Vijaya Nirmala and this created fodder for the gossip columns as they were still married to their respective spouses with children. Krishna continues to be married to his first wife Indira Devi and would have three more children with her: Manjula Ghattamaneni in 1970, Mahesh Babu in 1975, and Priyadarshini in 1979. He never had children with Vijaya Nirmala but he apparently raised her son Naresh from her first marriage as his own. He also supported Vijaya Nirmala's directorial aspirations by starring in the films she directed and was later proud when she made the Guinness Book of Records as the most prolific female director in 2002. Krishna established the prestigious "Padmalaya Studios" with his brothers in 1983 and has won respect for donning several hats as actor, producer, director, distributor and exhibitor. He also acted in many political targeted movies. During Rajiv Gandhi times, he was inclined towards Congress and even won from the Eluru constituency. After the death of Rajiv Gandhi, Krishna quit politics and has continued to be involved in films and supporting his son Mahesh Babu's success as an actor.