a band troupe called sonics and we performed at college functions the lessons were selftaughthis interest in music was so intense that whenever his parents took him to weddings he would stand before the orchestra troupe return home and play on tin boxes or table tops listening to film music on binaca geeth mala and radio ceylon was part of my life when young that also inspired me to take to music a hindi movie buff mano never missed a single hindi movie in majestic area as i was doing electrical engineering we used to have boring drawing classes every morning class would get over by 10 am after which we would bunk the next one and go to the movies my alltime favourite star is dev anand i have seen jewel thief and guide more than 25 times in fact i want to have a photograph taken with him and am trying to contact him through a friendmanos date with sandalwood began in 1996 when director nagathihalli chandrasekhar was in the us to screen one of his movies he was also looking for new faces for his next venture america america i met him and showed him some of my music albums and played some scratch tunes he was impressed and asked me to work for america america it was a big hit later i did the music for nanna preethiya hudugi and car car became a household song in 2003 i produced preethi prema pranaya i never will produce a movie againmano has directed the music for 23 movies so far which include milana cheluvina chithara geleya and ee bandhana the music of pancharangi directed by yograj bhat is recorded on latin instruments mano has a handful of films in hand which include life ishtene parijatha and mr duplicate he bagged the filmfare award for mungaru male and milana jab they met his better half lata is a painter they married in december 1979 in malleswaram my grandfather and latas uncle were very close friends he had told her uncle about me and asked them to meet me along with lata it was a casual visit with no intention of a wedding proposal when they came home i took lata to lalbagh and while returning home asked if she was ready to marry me she was shocked later we told our parentslata an mba graduate has taken up painting as a hobby she is also an expert in pottery and ceramic works one thing i appreciate in lata is that she gives away paintings as gifts to anyone who appreciates the art we have a collection of around 20 paintings at home after composing music for anisuthide and mungaru male i made lata listen to the tunes i was wondering who was the best person to sing the songs and lata suggested sonu nigams namewhenever mano murthy returns to the us he carries a big bag of condiments which include happala sandige raagi flour hurigaalu and dharwad pedha