He sang with equal ease in Tamil, Sinhala and English His rendition of Surangani was made popular across the island by Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation (formerly Radio Ceylon), which in the 1970s had a loyal fan base in India.
As soon as the song became popular in India, Manohar started making regular trips to Madras, and the roles in films came in slowly.
Manohar got small roles in films that starred some of the giants of Tamil cinema such as his idol Sivaji Ganesan.
With his long curly hair, moustache and overweight frame, he fit the role of a ‘bad guy’ well at that time.
When he was living in Colombo, the Black July anti-Tamil riots hit the Sri Lankan capital and spread across the island.