Siva Balaji Manohar is an Indian actor born on 14 October 1980 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is the eldest son of industrialist Manoharan Ramaswamy (owner of Sri Balaji Group of Companies - Sri Balaji Cylinders Pvt Ltd, Sri Balaji Valves Pvt Ltd) and Sivakumari Manoharan. He has two younger brothers (Prashanth Balaji and Krishna Sai) and a younger sister (Gayathri Lingam). He studied at Karthikeyan Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chennai, and holds a diploma in acting. He managed his father's business from age 17 and founded MSB Industries (valves, regulators, and components manufacturing) at age 20, before receiving his first film offer in 2002 and choosing acting on his father's advice. He made his Telugu film debut with Idi Maa Ashokgadi Love Story (2003) under director Suresh Krissna, followed by a guest role in Ela Cheppanu and the lead in Dost (2004). His major breakthrough came with Sukumar's Arya (2004, starring Allu Arjun) as the possessive college villain Ajay, which earned him critical acclaim. Subsequent notable films include Sankranti (2005), Pothe Poni (2006, Copper Nandi Award), Chandamama (2007), Shambo Shiva Shambo (2010), Katamarayudu (2012, Tamil as Lion, with Vijay), Snehamera Jeevitham, and Abhiram (2019). He has served as Treasurer of the Movie Artists Association since 2021. He married actress Madhumitha on 1 March 2009 (his co-star from the Tamil film Englishkaran, 2005), with whom he has two sons: Dhanvin Kangula (born 11 February 2010) and Gagan Kangula (born 28 November 2014). In 2017, he participated in Bigg Boss Telugu Season 1 on Star Maa, hosted by Jr. NTR. He served as house captain in Week 5 and navigated the entire 69-day competition to win the finale on 24 September 2017 with 3.34 crore votes - the first-ever Bigg Boss Telugu winner - receiving a trophy and cash prize of ₹50 lakh.
Telugu film Arya (2004, directed by Sukumar, with Allu Arjun) as Ajay - his breakthrough; Dost (2004); Chandamama (2007, with Navdeep and Kajal Aggarwal); Shambo Shiva Shambo (2010, with Ravi Teja and Allari Naresh); Copper Nandi Award for Best Supporting Actor (2006) for Pothe Poni; winner of Bigg Boss Telugu Season 1 (2017) with ₹50 lakh prize.