Biography

He was born in Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

, Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. Educated at the Film and Television Institute

Film and television institute

The Film and Television Institute WA is a Screen Resource center located in Fremantle, Western Australia.FTI is a non profit, membership based organisation providing members with low-cost equipment and facilities hire, production assistance and script consultation, as well as regular production...

 of Tamil Nadu at Chennai, he received his early training from the cinematographer S. Saravanan. Manoj started his career by assisting in films such as Pammal K. Sambandam

Pammal K. Sambandam

Pammal K. Sambandam is a 2002 Tamil comedy film directed by Moulee and scripted by Crazy Mohan. The film features Kamal Haasan in the title role alongside Simran with Abbas and Sneha in primary supporting roles. The film was produced by P. L. Thenappan under Media Dreams, while Deva composed the...

, Arasatchi

Arasatchi

Arasatchi is a Tamil language film released in 2004. The film was directed by then debutante, N Maharajan. The film starred Arjun, Lara Dutta and Raghuvaran in the lead roles. Vivek as the comedian, Lakshmi and Manivannan all play in other roles. The film's music was composed by Harris Jayaraj...

, Priyamana Thozhi

Priyamana Thozhi

Priyamana Thozhi is a Tamil film directed by Vikraman. As like other Vikraman films it is based about relationships. The movie stars Madhavan and Sreedevi Vijayakumar in lead roles while Jyothika, Vineeth, Livingston and Manivannan playing other supporting roles. The film's music is composed by...

, Madhurey

Madhurey

Madhurey is a Tamil film which released on 29 August 2004 and was directed by Ramana Madhesh. This film stars Joseph Vijay in the lead role. Sonia Agarwal, Rakshitha and Tejashree are also in the cast.-Story:...

, Thirupaachi

Thirupaachi

Thirupaachi is a 2005 Tamil action film written and directed by Perarasu. The film stars Vijay and Trisha Krishnan in the lead roles, with Mallika, Livingston, Pasupathy, Benjamin, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Vaiyapuri and Manoj K. Jayan in other roles. Chaya Singh made a guest appearance in a song...

and Thirupathi

Thirupathi

Thirupathi is a 2006 Tamil action film written and directed by Perarasu and produced by AVM Productions. The film features Ajith Kumar and Sadha in the lead roles, with Riyaz Khan and Arun Pandian appearing in other pivotal roles...

, as well as other films in Telugu

Telugu language

Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

, Malayalam

Malayalam language

Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...

 and Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

, before becoming independent. His debut film was Eeram

Eeram

Eeram is a 2009 Tamil-language thriller film written and directed by newcomer Arivazhagan Venkatachalam. Starring Aadhi, and Sindhu Menon in the lead roles, with Saranya Mohan and Nandha in supporting roles, the film was produced by S. Shankar and was released on 11 September 2009...

, produced by noted director S. Shankar

S. Shankar

Shankar is an Indian film director and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He made his directional debut in Gentleman for which he was awarded the Filmfare Best Director Award...

. Manoj received wide critical praise for his work in the film.

In 2010, he worked on Gautham Menon

Gautham Menon

Gautham Vasudev Menon is an Indian film director and producer. Mainly working in Tamil cinema, he has also directed Hindi and Telugu films which are remakes of his Tamil films...

's romance film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and its Telugu remake Ye Maaya Chesave

Ye Maaya Chesave

Ye Maaya Chesave is a 2010 Telugu-language romantic drama written and directed by Gautham Menon. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead roles. It was produced by Manjula Ghattamaneni under the banner Indira Productions, and features a very successful music soundtrack...

, winning the Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer - South for the former. He also handled cinemtography for Menon's psychological thriller, Nadunisi Naaygal

Nadunisi Naaygal

Nadunisi Naaygal is a 2011 Tamil psychological thriller film written and directed by Gautham Menon that stars Sameera Reddy, Veera Bahu and Deva in lead roles, with Swapna Abraham, Ashwin Kakumanu and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in other pivotal roles. The film notably does not feature any kind of film...

starring Sameera Reddy

Sameera Reddy

Sameera Reddy is an Indian film actress, primarily working in the Hindi film industry and Tamil industry. Apart from Bollywood, Reddy has also appeared in a number of Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam films.-Early life:...

. He is currently working in Nanban

Nanban (film)

Nanban is an upcoming Tamil comedy drama film directed by S. Shankar. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Vijay, Jeeva, Srikanth, Sathyaraj and Ileana D'Cruz. The soundtrack and background score is by Harris Jayaraj, working with Shankar for the second time after Anniyan . Filming...

, directed by S. Shankar

S. Shankar

Shankar is an Indian film director and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He made his directional debut in Gentleman for which he was awarded the Filmfare Best Director Award...

.

Filmography

Year	Title	Language	Notes
2008	Lungiman Takes a Ride	Tamil	Short film
2009	Eeram Eeram Eeram is a 2009 Tamil-language thriller film written and directed by newcomer Arivazhagan Venkatachalam. Starring Aadhi, and Sindhu Menon in the lead roles, with Saranya Mohan and Nandha in supporting roles, the film was produced by S. Shankar and was released on 11 September 2009...	Tamil	Winner, Vijay Award for Best Cinematographer Vijay Award for Best Cinematographer The Vijay Award for Best Cinematographer is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil films.-The list:Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won.- Nominations :... Winner, South Scope Cine Award for Best Cinematography
2010	Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa	Tamil	Winner, Lux Sandal Cinema Award For Best Cinematographer
	Ye Maaya Chesave Ye Maaya Chesave Ye Maaya Chesave is a 2010 Telugu-language romantic drama written and directed by Gautham Menon. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead roles. It was produced by Manjula Ghattamaneni under the banner Indira Productions, and features a very successful music soundtrack...	Telugu	Winner, Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer - South
	Nayakan Nayakan Nayakan is a 2010 Malayalam film directed by Lijo Jose Pellisery and written by P. S. Rafeeq. It stars Indrajith, Thilakan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Dhanya Mary Varghese and Siddique....	Malayalam
	Chutti Chathan Chutti Chathan Chutti Chathan is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language 3D film written and directed by Jijo. The movie is a digitalized sequel version to the 1984 Malayalam hit, first 3D Indian film My Dear Kuttichathan, added with some extra footages. Veteran film maker Rama Narayanan launches this movie through his...	Tamil	Additional photography
	Nisabhdha Nilai	Tamil	Short film
2011	Nadunissi Naaygal	Tamil
	Collector Collector (film) Collector is a 2011 Malayalam political action thriller directed by Anil C. Menon with Suresh Gopi in the lead. The film has Suresh Gopi playing the title role. The film is a socio political thriller that takes a look at the contemporary social scene in the state.-Plot:Avinash Varma is the...	Malayalam
	Nanban Nanban (film) Nanban is an upcoming Tamil comedy drama film directed by S. Shankar. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Vijay, Jeeva, Srikanth, Sathyaraj and Ileana D'Cruz. The soundtrack and background score is by Harris Jayaraj, working with Shankar for the second time after Anniyan . Filming...	Tamil	Post-production

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