Manoj was born in the Punjabi-speaking Tuli family on July 11, 1956, a brother to two sisters. His father is the legendary Bollywood mega-star, Rajendra Kumar Tuli, and is mother's name is Shukla. Manoj studied in Simla's Bishop Cotton School.

After completing his education, his father launched him in a lead role in Love Story (1981) opposite Vijayata Pandit, the sister of Bollywood actress, Sulakshana Pandit. The movie did very well, and catapulted him to fame virtually overnight. Thus, Kumar Gaurav was born and thronged by females of all ages.

Hoping to follow in his father's footsteps, Kumar signed a number of films, mostly in romantic lead roles, but all of them failed.

He then got married to Namrata Dutt, the daughter of Bollywood mega-actors, Sunil Dutt and Nargis Dutt. Shortly thereafter, the duo became parents of two daughters, Saachi and Siya.

His father attempted to re-launch his son's career in Phool (1993), which also failed. He did appear in Naam (1986) and Kaante (2002) but was overshadowed by his brother-in-law, Sanjay Dutt, and other Bollywood mega-stars respectively.

His father passed away on July 12, 1999.

Kumar, who has since then appeared in a Hollywood movie Guiana 1838 (2004) has two other movies listed for release during the year 2009. After ensuring his daughters' marriages, he would prefer spending his spare time fishing with a kerosene-lit lantern.