 He made his acting debut in the 1999 Tamil film "Taj Mahal", directed by his father, with himself alongside Riya Sen, who was making her debut as well.Subsequently, Manoj appeared in films such as "Samuthiram", alongside Sarath Kumar 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.