Voice, acting, and beyond: Mano’s four-decade film sojourn

“Singing is not just a passion, it is like the air I breathe,” says singer Mano, reflecting on his journey, spanning four decades, in the music industry. Yet Mano's initial interest was acting, not singing. For Mano, who was named Nagoor Babu, grew up watching his mother, a theatre artiste, and father, a harmonium player, recite dialogues and practice their scenes at home in Vijayawada, acting, reciting poetry, and singing came naturally. He started performing in plays at the age of seven. “Whenever I received a payment, in those days (early 1970s) ₹1 or ₹2, I used to be overjoyed,” recalls Mano, now 60, during a conversation with The Hindu in Vijayawada. His first tryst with films came in 1979 when his mother, Shaheeda, was offered a character artiste role in Dasari Narayana Rao’s film ‘Needa’. In the same movie, he was also offered a child artiste role, which piqued his interest in acting. After Needa, he appeared as a child artiste in films like ‘Rangoon Rowdy’, ‘Ketugaadu’, ‘Jathara’. However, destiny had other plans for him. In 1979, when he was playing the heroine’s brother character role in the film ‘O Aadadi O Magadu’, singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, who was roped in to sing a song, couldn't arrive at the studio on time and gave a new singing opportunity to Mano. Music director M.S. Viswanathan, who heard him sing, was impressed by his skills. He told him that if only he overcame his initial inhibitions, he could do well in the music industry. “Those words are etched in my memory,” says Mano, who left his hometown, Vijayawada, to start a new chapter in his life in Madras at the age of 14. “Despite my interest, I realised early that I did not belong here [acting],” says Mano, wearing his trademark smile. After working as an assistant for music director Viswanathan, he worked for K. Chakravarthy, with whom most of the Telugu industry actors worked. But singing for a film took time. He landed his first singing opportunity for the film ‘Velaikkaran’ (Tamil). “Until then, I used to be a dummy singer. I had sung nearly 1,500 songs in recordings. While the experience was enriching, frustration had set in since I did not get actual singing opportunities,” the singer says. It was music composer Ilaiyaraaja who gave him the name Mano and helped him achieve success. Since Velaikkaran, released in 1987, to date, there has been no looking back. Mano has since lent his voice to more than 27,000 film songs, most of which are in Tamil and Telugu, and worked for composers ranging from K.V. Mahadevan and S. Rajeswara Rao to Anirudh Ravichander. From melodies like ‘Priya Priyatama Ragalu’ to peppy beats like ‘Muqabla’, he has covered everything, and was also the first singer to sing for A.R. Rahman for the film ‘Roja'. He did not restrict himself to singing, as he went on to become well-known for Rajinikanth’s voice in Telugu films. “Siva Kumar, who dubbed for Rajinikanth until the film Basha, had begun acting in Kannada movies, and the actor was on a lookout for another dubbing artiste and found me,” he says. He has dubbed for all of Rajinikanth’s movies, except for one, starting with Muthu. In the actor’s recent film Coolie, and its upcoming sequel, too, Mano has lent his voice. After dabbling in singing, dubbing, music composing, and also hosting chat shows and singing contest shows, the singer is launching a mentorship programme soon in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for those interested in singing. “There may be many talented singers who have not had proper training or pursue it as their profession. I want to allow them to learn and sing with me,” he says. Before signing off, a word for youngsters? “Perseverance,” he says, adding that he did not let himself get upset over the lost acting opportunity, but had an open mindset, which guided him to his true passion.