Tamil actor 'Crazy' Mohan is no more
June 10, 2019 19:27
Popular Tamil playwright and theatre and film comedian 'Crazy' Mohan, whose rib tickling one liners and repartees won him a huge fan following, died in Chennai on Monday following a massive heart attack, a city hospital said.
Mohan (66) suffered "cardiac arrest following acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) and the measures taken to resuscitate him did not succeed and he passed away at 2 PM," a release from Kaveri hospital said.
He is survived by his wife and son.
The comedy legend's over four decade career began with him taking the theatre by storm with his hilarious middle class centric content and laughter built on ubiquitous themes before he moved on to the silver screen.
A original creative thinker, he successfully reprised his threatre expertise in cinema by clinging on to simple but hugely successful one-liners and word play, seen in films like "Panchathantiram," that went on to redefine comedy in Tamil films.
Mohan entered the movie industry after a successful career as a theatre personality.
Noted director K Balachander's "Poikkal Kudhirai" was his launch pad to cinema, for which he wrote the story and dialogues. The film was based on his laugh riot "Marriage made in saloon."
An engineer by qualification, Mohan's penchant for comedy found expression even during his college days and he went on to set up a Tamil drama troupe "Crazy Creations" in 1979.
The troupe, which came out with hugely successful plays, including the present day popular "Chocolate Krishna", staged over 1,000 times, has been popular both in India and abroad.
He prefixed 'Crazy' to his name, synonymous with his theatre group and reminding his hit stage play "Crazy Thieves in Palavakkam (1976)."
Mohan's association with Kamal Haasan, which began with 'Aboorva Sagodarargal' in 1989 evolved and eventually resulted in movies that became iconic for its comedy like "Panchathanthiram," "Pammal K Sambandam," and "Thenaali."
He also penned scripts for several other super hit Haasan starrer films like "Avvai Shanmugi", "Vasool Raja MBBS" and "Michael Madhana Kamarajan", besides acting in many other movies.
Incidentally, Mohan wrote dialogues for the 1997 film 'Ratchagan,' in which Girish Karnad essayed the role of the heroine's (Sushmita Sen) father, both of whom passed away today.
A recipient of many awards, including the 'Kalaimamani' by the Tamil Nadu government, he first wrote the script for a college skit, the "Great Bank Robbery."
His last work as dialogue writer was for the drama "Crazy Premier League." Totally, he has penned 25 full length dramas, including Chocolate Krishna. His dramas have been staged over 6,500 times in India and abroad, including 150 plus shows in the USA.
He was also a painter and had an avid interest in writing 'venba,' a form of Tamil poetry. -- PTI
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