Manoj Kumar Bharathiraja (11 September 1976 – 25 March 2025) was an Indian actor, film director, producer and playback singer who worked in Tamil cinema. He was the son of director Bharathiraja and made his acting debut with his father's Taj Mahal in 1999.
Manoj's notable films included Samudhiram (2001), Kadal Pookkal (2001), Alli Arjuna (2002), Varushamellam Vasantham (2002), Eera Nilam (2003), Annakodi (2013), Baby (2015), Maanaadu (2021) and Viruman (2022).
Before becoming an actor in the Tamil film industry, Manoj worked as an assistant director. He worked as an assistant to his father in films such Nadodi Thendral (1992) and Kizhakku Cheemayile (1993), to Mani Ratnam in Bombay (1995) and to S. Shankar for Enthiran (2010).
Early life and career Manoj Kumar was born to director Bharathiraja on 11 September 1976 in Theni, Tamil Nadu, India. While aged 8 in school, Manoj learned to play the keyboard and eventually went on to learn guitar and percussion instruments. He had a music troupe called Black Snow. Before becoming an actor in the Tamil film industry, he quit twelfth grade halfway and worked as an assistant director to his father in Kodi Parakkuthu (1988), Nadodi Thendral (1992), Kizhakku Cheemayile (1993) and Tamizh Selvan (1996) and for noted filmmaker Mani Ratnam in Bombay (1995). He studied theatre arts at the University of South Florida.
He made his acting debut in his father's 1999 Tamil film Taj Mahal, playing the lead alongside Riya Sen, who was making her debut as well. Bharathiraja wanted to rename his son as Manibharathi for the film but after Manoj's refusal, his original name was retained. While shooting for Taj Mahal, Manoj encountered two incidents: for a scene, he had to go thirty feet deep in the water and come out but his foot got stuck due to the underwater brush and was promptly saved by an assistant director after the cameraman noticed him, and while filming a sequence involving horseback riding, Manoj fell off and injured his spine. A. R. Rahman gave him the opportunity to sing one of the versions of "Eechi Elumichi" in the film after hearing his work as a playback singer in the yet-to-be released album Pathinaru Vayathinile, which was named after his father's film of the same name. The film became a box office failure, although the soundtrack and background score of the film composed by Rahman was well received by critics as well as audience.
Subsequently in 2001, Manoj appeared in films such as Samuthiram, alongside Sarathkumar and Murali and in Kadal Pookkal, directed by his father, sharing screen space with Murali once again. The latter became a box office failure, But received much critical acclaim for which Bharathiraja was awarded the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. He worked on the album Pathinaru Vayathinile as a playback singer alongside Meena. He then enacted the lead role in Saran's Alli Arjuna (2002), alongside Richa Pallod, before starring in the low budget productions Varushamellam Vasantham (2002) and Pallavan (2003), which failed to achieve commercial success. Later, he starred in Sathyaraj's Maha Nadigan (2004) in a cameo role and did a negative role in the unreleased TeluguTamil bilingual film Lemon (2004) co-starring Sai Kiran, Chaya Singh and Ishaq Hussaini. After the film Saadhuriyan (2005), he took a hiatus from acting.
He worked as an assistant to his father for the Hindi-Tamil bilingual film Cinema in 2006, which had a delayed release in 2008 in Tamil as Bommalattam and in 2016 in Hindi as Final Cut of Director. From 2008 till 2010, he worked as an assistant to director S. Shankar in his magnum opus Enthiran, in which he played Rajinikanth's body double in a few sequences. Since 2007, it has been reported that Manoj was set to remake his father's Sigappu Rojakkal, but the film still remained in pre-production. In 2012, director Vetriveeran cast him as the antagonist for his film Kadhal Theevu but the film underwent a change of director and he was late removed from the project. That same year, his father signed him up to replace Ameer in his production Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum, as an antagonist, thus marking a return to films after a seven-year sabbatical. His plans on directing a comedy film featuring music by Yuvan Shankar Raja in 2016 also did not reach frutition. In 2018, he made the short film Pavithra featuring students of Bharathiraja's film college. In 2023, he made his feature film directorial debut with Margazhi Thingal.
Personal life and death On 19 November 2006, Manoj married his longtime friend actress Nandana, who has appeared in Malayalam and Tamil films. Nandana was his co-star in the film Saadhuriyan. The marriage was held at Ashirwad Marriage Hall at Kozhikode, Kerala, homeplace of Nandana, whilst a grand reception took place on 1 December 2006 at Mayor Ramanathan Chettiar Hall in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The couple had 2 daughters, Arthika and Mathivadani.
Manoj died from a cardiac arrest on 25 March 2025, at the age of 48. The actor had undergone open-heart surgery at SIMS Hospital a month earlier and was recuperating at home. According to reports, he had been feeling unwell for several days before experiencing a fatal heart attack.
Filmography
As actor Note: he was often credited in films as Manoj K. Bharathi or simply Manoj. Year Title Role Notes 1985 Mudhal Mariyathai Himself Uncredited appearance in the title credits 1988 Kodi Parakkuthu 1992 Nadodi Thendral 1993 Captain Magal 1999 Taj Mahal Maayan 2001 Samudhiram Chinnarasu Kadal Pookkal Peter 2002 Alli Arjuna Arivazhagan (Arivu) Varushamellam Vasantham Raja 2003 Pallavan Pallavan Eera Nilam Duraisamy 2004 Maha Nadigan Muthu 2005 Saadhuriyan 2010 Enthiran Body double for Vaseegaran and Chitti As assistant director;for Sana's birthday and car sequences 2013 Annakodi Sadayan Also co-producer 2015 Baby Shiva Kathirvel Kaakha Velraj 2016 Ennama Katha Vudranunga Himself Cameo appearance in the title song Vaaimai Manibarathi 2017 Chocolate Baby Music video 2019 Valayal Champion Gold Star Gopi 2020 Meendum Oru Mariyathai As co-producer 2021 Eeswaran Younger Periyasamy Maanaadu John Mathew 2022 Viruman Muthukutty Final film role
Television +YearTitleRole Notes2024Snakes and LaddersMahalingamAmazon Prime Video
As film director Year Title Notes 2020 Whistle short film Pavithra short film; released on ShortFlix 2023 Margazhi Thingal WonEdison Award for Feel Good Entertainer
As playback singer Year Title Song Composer Co-singers Notes 1999Taj Mahal"Eechi Elumichi"A. R. Rahman Arundhathi, Raqeeb Alam 2001Pathinaru Vayathinile "Vaikarai Velaile" T. S. Muralidharan Album "Pathinaaru Vayathanile" Meena "Madura Mailu Eiva" "Oirele Kalanthu" "Karisa Kaadutha Kadhal" Meena "Kadhal Vanthu"
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