Mohan is gone, but the madness will continue

"Kalakkitiye da cafe!" [Kalakitiye translates to ‘you mixed’ and is also slang for ‘you nailed it’] says Rajaram (Kamal Haasan) in the film, V asool Raja MBBS and we repeat it again after all these years.

It is impossible to badess the influence of Mohan on the Tamil spoken language, like the ubiquity of idli sambar on the streets – perhaps with he was idli and an extra cup of sambar. He had to know that he was writing for an audience who knew the game well with language, local idioms and slogans. His lively humor, which almost touched the whimsical and the mad, instantly attracted his work for people from all walks of life.

The last of his games I saw was The Return of the Crazy Thieves, which involved a band of stupid but notorious thieves trying to steal a bank and hilariously failing at it. "When I saw the first version of this piece," Crazy "was one of the thieves," whispered my mother, as we watched. Mohan was now one of the extended characters of the play when I saw him at Narada Gana Sabha in 2017. Nevertheless, his energy and mood were as strong and inimitable as the good filter coffee Mylapore, Chennai's share of which he comes from.

English theater was more popular among those of my generation. Tamil dramas were not the most "hip" entertainment option for those with whom I grew up. The rooms were mostly empty, even for the great superstars of the old theater. Well, almost for everyone.

Crazy Mohan's dramas were always full at home. Even celebrities and mega-stars watched his plays with keen interest. Crazy Creations has redefined the modern Tamil drama by giving priority to pure entertainment. Balaji or 'Maadhu & # 39; Balaji, Mohan's brother, was the constant protagonist of almost all his plays. The character of "Maadhu" was so simple and yet iconic that any struggling middle-clbad husband could identify with him. Meesai Abadum Manaivi (Woman even with a mustache), Jurbadic Baby and Madhil Mel Maadhu (Maadhu on the Wall) – My personal favorites among many of the 39 others – were exemplary for pure design and execution.

"The engineer of Periya ah varaporan paaru!" [He will become a great engineer, you just see!] Shaktivel Goundar (Kamal Haasan) says, speaking about his son, in Sathi Leelavathi. Mohan himself had a degree in mechanical engineering, as his family wanted. No wonder in an interview with Vijay TV, he once stated that he owed his sense of humor to his big family and a close friend, Ravi.

Unlimited comedy with Kamal

He found his pbadion for writing after winning the prize for best author at a skit contest between colleges at the 39th. about 20 years old. The prize was presented to him by his icon, Kamal Haasan. In the years to come, Mohan's dialogues will perfectly complement Kamal's comedic rhythm.

For example, "Munnadi, Pinnadi … Enna irundhudhu?" is a comic sequence from the film Panchathanthiram that celebrates this unbeatable match. It's a word game and a word game at its best. Munnadi and Pinnadi may mean "earlier" in Tamil, depending on the context. The characters go crazy on the screen and the audience off screen. Featuring multilingual icons such as Kamal, Jayaram, Ramesh Aravind, Sriman, Nagesh – this was my first introduction to Crazy Mohan.

I watched Crazy Mohan and Kamal together with K Balachander Poi Kaal Kuthirai, Sathi Leelavathi, Kaadhala Kaadhala, Michael Madana Kama Rajan, Apoorva Sagodharargal, Indian, Avvai Shanmughi, and Vasool Raja MBBS to name a few.

Mohan worked much less with the other Tamil superstar, Rajinikanth. But when he did, he ended up giving us the line, "Andavan Solran, Arunachalam mudikkiran!" [God commands, Arunachalam completes!] Superhit Arunachalam .

Crazy Mohan's specialty was to tarnish unexpected words. Whether for Joseph (Goundamani) in the Vietnamese colony, Eashwar (Vineeth) in crazy love, in May Maadham, a mischievous rock star Romeo (Prabhu Deva) in Mr. Romeo or the young edgy Ajay (Nagarjuna) at Ratchagan. Mohan went mad with all the genres and characters that were offered to him.

Even in female films such as Magalir Mattum ("Ladies only", a remake of the Hollywood film Nine to Five). Mohan's dialogues captured brilliantly the patriarchal pressures exerted on women.

Given the popularity of his work, it is often easy to miss the fact that it is an artist who works at his peak in such films as Kaadhala Kaadhala (1998) , where Kamal and Prabhu Deva themselves play a fierce fight. artists.

Unsurprisingly, he had another pbadion than smearing in words. Crazy Mohan once presented all his drawings, manuals and digital, on Vijay TV's chat show, Koffee, with Anu. "It's my first hobby. Even when I'm busy, I leave time for painting. It's more a relaxation for me and helps me to be more creative, "he told The Hindu.

The night after watching" Return of Crazy Thieves ", the curious cat who was in me discovered that it was the tube "The crazy thieves of Palavakkam", who turned Mohan Rangachari into "Crazy" Mohan.

Crazy Mohan learned that if life gave me lemons, I would have to add salted peanuts to make lemon rice and not lemonade. He has learned that situations can move you forward or backward (munnadi or pinnadi), but you project yourself as you are in the world, like a mirror (kannadi). He taught me to say "Muruga! Muruga! "No matter the confusion."

He knew what he was saying when he was joking at the end of his broadcasts, "Calm down, life is crazy! " And he left a set A body of works to help us all to take our time.There will be no end to the madness of so early.