When they came to Delhi, a music company official spotted Manak and asked him to record the song "jija akhian na maar ve main kall di kurhi" (written by Babu Singh Maan Mararawala) with Seema. In 1968, at the age of 17, he was given the chance to record the song with Seema. His first record features this song along with "laung karaa mittra, machhli paunge maape" (written by Gurdev Singh Maan). This record was a runaway success. He did sing duets with Satinder Kaur biba, younger sister of famous Punjabi singer Narinder biba; one of the duets was "Nale baba lasee pee gia nale de gia duanee khotee".