Manobala Age, Death, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Manobala

• Manobala was an Indian actor, film director, producer, comedian, and YouTuber, who worked as an actor in more than 350 films. He also directed around 20 TV serials and 10 telefilms.

• During his struggling days, he was a part of the South Indian actor-director group ‘Azhwarpet’ including Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam, and Santhana Bharathi. At that time all the group members used to stay at Kamal’s house.

• He started gaining popularity with his roles in various Tamil films like ‘Gopurangal Saivathillai’ (1982), ‘Gangai Karai Paattu’ (1995), ‘Swarnamukhi’ (1998), ‘Minsara Kanna’ (1999), and ‘Sethu’ (1999).
  

  Manobala’s old picture with other actors

• He directed the Tami telefilm ‘Siragugal’ in 2001, which was aired on Sun TV.

• Some of his other popular Tamil films are ‘Nala Damayanthi’ (2003), ‘Ethir Neechal’ (2013), ‘Aranmanai’ (2014), ‘Ghajinikanth’ (2018), and ‘Murungakkai Chips’ (2021).
  

  Ethir Neechal

• He appeared in various Telugu films such as ‘Punnami Naagu’ (2009), ‘Manasunu Maaya Seyake’ (2014), ‘Dega’ (2016), ‘Rajadhi Raja’ (2016), and ‘Mahanati’ (2018).
  

  Rajadhi Raja

• He also acted in a few Malayalam films like ‘Jomonte Suvisheshangal’ (2017) and ‘Viddikalude Mash’ (2022).
  

  Viddikalude Mash

• Some of his Tamil films as a director are ‘Paaru Paaru Pattanam Paaru’ (1986), ‘Dhoorathu Pachai’ (1987), ‘Moondrezhuthil En Moochirukkum’ (1991), ‘Annai’ (2000), and ‘Naina’ (2002).

• Manobala worked as a director in a few Tamil TV serials like ‘Panchavarnam’ (1999; Sun TV), ‘Punnagai’ (2007; Sun TV), and ‘777’ (2009; Polimer TV).

• He started his YouTube channel ‘Manobala’s Waste Paper’ in 2019. He uploaded interview videos of South Indian celebrities on his channel. He had around 449k subscribers on his YouTube channel.
  

  Manobala’s YouTube channel

• He worked as a dubbing artist for the Tamil version of the Hollywood film animated film ‘The Lion King.’ He dubbed for the character of Zazu (originally dubbed by John Oliver).

• He acted in Tamil TV serials like ‘Maya’ (2018; Sun TV) and ‘Sembaruthi’ (2020; Zee Tamizh).
  

  Maya

• He participated in the third season of the Tamil reality TV show ‘Cooku with Comali’ (2022), which aired on Star Vijay.
  

  Manobala in Cooku with Comali season 3

• He once shared in an interview that he used to smoke around 200 cigarettes a day which affected his health and his work. He said that his friends used to call him ‘Chimney’ for being a chain smoker. ^[5]India Today He said,
  

  When I was at my peak as a director, I had a terrible cigarette habit. They called me ‘Chimney’ because I kept smoking. Hindi actress Rekha tied two panparak pockets and hung them around my neck. The arrangement is to tap the cigarette ash into it. I smoked 200 cigarettes a day. That’s why all my bones are weak. In fact, at one point, doctors said that if I smoked one cigarette, I would die. That’s when I stopped. “

• He was a religious person, and he often visited various temples.
  

  Manobala in a temple

• In 2020, Manobala was appointed as the president of Chinnathirai Nadigar Sangam.

• In 2021, he became a jury member at Blacksheep Digital Awards.
  

  Manobala as a jury member

• He was appointed as a member of the Tamil Nadu Film Directors Association on 27 February 2022.
  

  Manobala – Member of Tamil Nadu Film Directors Association

• In January 2023, he had an angio-treatment. In March 2023, he started feeling unwell and was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai. He was then shifted to his home in Saligramam, Chennai. However, he could not recover, and on 3 May 2023, he died of liver ailments. On his demise, the Indian actor Rajinikanth shared his grief through his Twitter account. ^[6]The Indian Express He tweeted,
  

  I am deeply saddened by the passing away of my dear friend Manobhala, a famous director and actor. My condolences to his family. May his soul rest in peace.”