Manobala was born as Balachandar^[4] in a Marungoor village near Thirumarugal , Nagapattinam District, but did most of his primary education in Bangalore and Thirukattupalli for grades 10 and 11. He later studied at the Government College of Fine Arts, when he started writing articles under the pen name Manobala, and also learnt Bharatanatyam and the Veena.^[5][6]

Manobala started his career in Tamil cinema in the early 1970s and with a reference from Kamal Haasan became an assistant director for Bharathiraja's 1979 film Puthiya Vaarpugal.^[5][7] He continued to work as his assistant director for Niram Maaratha Pookkal (1979) and Tik Tik Tik (1981).^[8] He made his directorial debut with Agaya Gangai (1982) but it was a box office failure.^[9] His second film as director, Pillai Nila (1985) was more successful.^[7]

Manobala continued to direct with such films as Oorkavalan (1987), En Purushanthaan Enakku Mattumthaan (1989), and Dhoorathu Pachai (1987) which were critically acclaimed by the critics and were well received by audiences.^[10] He often collaborated with some of the leading actors of his generation, including Vijayakanth, Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, and Karthik.^[10] He made his Bollywood debut as director with Mera Pati Sirf Mera Hai (1990),^[11] and his television serial directorial debut with Panchavaranam. He had directed 24 films in his career, but he later focused his career as an actor in the 2000s when he began working full time as an actor.^[3]

Manobala appeared in over 976 films.^[11] He played minor roles in most of the films as he regularly shared screenspace with veteran comedians Vadivelu and Vivek. He was known for his comic roles in films including Ice, Nanban, Chandramukhi, Pithamagan, Tamizh Padam, Kavalai Vendam, Kalakalappu, Siruthai, Alex Pandian, Aranmanai, Aambala, and Yaaradi Nee Mohini.^[12] Manobala made his debut as film producer with H. Vinoth's directorial venture Sathuranga Vettai, for which he received the Best Debut Film Producer award at the South Indian International Movie Awards.^[13]

Manobala launched a YouTube channel named "Waste Paper", where he interviewed several directors and actors.^[14] In 2022, he received a doctorate degree from the South Western American University in recognition of his contributions to films. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Global Achievers Council.^[12] He featured as one of the contestants in the reality television show Cooku with Comali in 2022.^[15]

Manobala was married to Usha Mahadevan, and they have a son.^[5]

Manobala died at his residence in Chennai on 3 May 2023, reportedly due to liver issues, at age 69.^[16][17][18] Prior to this, he had also undergone an angio treatment in January 2023 after experiencing chest pain.^[19][20] He was a heavy smoker of cigarettes and was addicted to smoking during the peak of his career as a film director.^[21][22]