Mansoor Ali Khan (actor)

Mansoor Ali Khan is an Indian actor, composer, screenwriter and film producer. He has predominantly appeared in Tamil films, mostly in antagonistic and supporting roles.

He got a breakthrough role as an antagonist in Captain Prabhakaran (1991). After the success of this film, he got a lot of acting opportunities. He has acted in over 250 films and has produced and directed numerous films. He has also acted in some Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu films.

Early life
Mansoor Ali Khan was born in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. His parents are Meesaikaara Abdul Salam Rowther and Sagorammal.

Film career
Khan has often played antagonist roles and a few lead roles. He got a breakthrough role as an antagonist in Tamil cinema industry with the R.K. Selvamani directorial Captain Prabhakaran (1991) which became a blockbuster, fetching him a lot of acting opportunities. He did an acting course in Anupam Kher's acting school in Mumbai.

Political career
In his early career, Mansoor Ali Khan tried his hand at politics by supporting the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). At the 1999 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, he contested from Periyakulam as a candidate of the Puthiya Tamilagam (PT), he secured about one lakh votes and finished at the third position. At the 2009 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, he stood as an independent candidate and the opposition pressed criminal charges against him for moving around in a vehicle with a propaganda banner breaching the moral conduct code. At the 2019 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, he contested from Dindigul as a candidate of the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK). He quit the party later and formed his own political party 'Tamil Desiya Puligal'.

Controversies
Khan was arrested in July 1998 for causing a roadblock and obstructing traffic while protesting against the pirate showings of his film Vettu Onnu Thundu Rendu (1998) on cable television. His activity led to film distributor Chinthamani Murugesan releasing a press statement condemning the television's actions and prompted a shut down of cinema halls across Pondicherry for one day.

Khan was convicted on the charge of rape and awarded seven years of imprisonment on 27 March 2001 by a Sessions court. Later, in 2012, the Madras High court found the woman had made false accusations against him and ordered her to pay Rs 50 lakh as damages to the actor for malicious prosecution and defamation.

Khan was arrested in January 2012 on land grabbing charges after it was alleged that he had illegally constructed a 16-storeyed property in Arumbakkam.

Khan was arrested on 17 June 2018, along with environmentalist Piyush Manush, while protesting the proposed 270-kilometre superhighway connecting Salem and Chennai.

Khan was arrested in April 2021 for spreading rumours about COVID-19 vaccination and ordered to pay 2 lakhs to the health secretary.

In 2023, Khan said in an interview that he expected to do a rape scene with actress Trisha in Leo movie but didn't get a chance to share the screen with her. The statement was criticized by social media commentators. Trisha replied to his statement, "I strongly condemn this and find it sexist, disrespectful, misogynistic, repulsive and in bad taste. He can keep wishing but I am grateful never to have shared screen space with someone as pathetic as him and I will make sure it never happens for the rest of my film career as well. People like him bring a bad name to mankind.”  He then apologized to Trisha and she responded by saying "To err is human,to forgive is divine".