Mansoor Ali Khan was born on February 22, 1961, in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India. He has predominantly appeared in Tamil films, often in antagonistic and supporting roles. His breakthrough came with the role of an antagonist in the Tamil film Captain Prabhakaran (1991).

 Since then, he has acted in over 250 films and has also produced and directed several movies. Apart from Tamil cinema, he has worked in Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu films.