Manobala & Mansoor Ali Khan Movies Together List — 9 Films

The shape of the work

The 1990s belonged to Minsara Kanna; the 2020s to Kick. Manobala acted in every film; Mansoor Ali Khan acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Manobala and Mansoor Ali Khan first worked together in 1995's Gangai Karai Paattu, but their real partnership kicked off only a decade later. Manobala, then a director, cast Mansoor as the villain in Aayudham (2005) after seeing him in a small role — and Mansoor's menacing energy in that film convinced Manobala to keep writing parts specifically for him.
• In Tenaliraman (2014), Manobala played a bumbling courtier opposite Mansoor Ali Khan's scheming minister. The comedy came from their real-life dynamic: Manobala, the older director-actor, would deliberately flub his lines to make Mansoor crack up on set, and the director kept those takes in the final cut because the laughter felt natural.
• Their 2018 film Itly (Inba Twinkle Lilly) was a surprise hit, and it directly led to Mansoor Ali Khan being cast in a major comic role in the 2023 blockbuster Kick. Manobala had recommended him to the Kick team after seeing how well Mansoor handled the absurd humour in Itly.
• Manobala and Mansoor Ali Khan had a standing ritual: before every film they shot together, Mansoor would bring Manobala a box of Mysore Pak from a specific shop in Chennai. Manobala once said in an interview that he'd refuse to start the first shot until he got his 'sweet bribe'.
• In 80's Buildup (2023), Manobala played a retired police officer and Mansoor played a corrupt politician. The key scene — a tense face-off in a car — was shot in one take because both actors refused to break character. Manobala later revealed that Mansoor's improvisation (slamming the car door mid-dialogue) forced him to react genuinely, and that take became the final cut.