The World of Crazy M(oh)an
This article is as crazy as it sounds(pun intended). He was born as Mohan Rangachari but became popular as “Crazy” Mohan for his jokes on and off-screen.This is about the world, the man, Crazy Mohan created for the audience.It was a beautiful world with comedy guaranteed. His style of comedy had no adult dosage, and cheap double meaning meant to titillate the fans. He was very successful in theater, managed the transition to cinema beautifully. He also made sure of a successful run in TV as well. He was a well known spiritualist. His friendship and collaboration with Kamal Hassan are legendary.
Aboorva Sagodharargal released in 1989 was known for Kamal, screenplay, Ilayaraja, and everything in between. Also stamped were the dialogues, penned by Crazy Mohan. His intellect shone bright like a star from his first outing. “Nan pathu valandu ponnu Mano, appo yen ne paathu nan matum valarla”-I have seen her grow from childhood, why did I not grow, even though you have seen me as well. Such jokes about dwarfism were not criticizing ones but emotional ones from the point of view. His clean humor would find a large audience in tamil cinema for many years to come. “Kulichtu neat-a va pa, nan epadi mudalali neet-a”- Bathe and dress up neatly, how can I come neatly. “Jaan pillaya erundalum, aan pillai nu”, “nalla sari sir, sari edu, sir, thutta ma”.These english translations do not do justice for the comedy that leveraged the beauty and syllables of tamil. He was a master dialogue setter, who knew to weave comedy based on character names, situation, body language, dialect, nuances of the language. This was a refreshing change amidst comedy that was body shaming, hurting, double meaning, and also facial expressionist.
Next movie with Kamal was Michael Madan Kama Rajan, this leveled up their comedy franchise. Earlier one had two characters, this one had four and it was 4x the comedy. Though it had its fight, romance, and serious sibling rivalry quotient, that movie was out and out comedy entertainer. “Edu maamiyar, maamiyar paati, enadhu edu maamiyar paati, maamanar thatha” “I mean what you mean, but they cant be so mean”,”yaarku kalyanam, nekka, nokka, nekkum nokkuma”, “Meen pudikra karandi eruka, sambarla vizhindchu, sambandi kadhula vizhunda enna” “en full name madan, friends used to call me Subramaniya Raju as nick name”. Simple words accentuated in a slang with brilliant acting gives you comedy goosebumps. This article would do less justice than watching the next clip, if you just have less time, please refrain from further reading to enjoy this gem.
Though Crazy Mohan had his share of non-kamal movies, and they carried his trademark comic sense- like Vietnam Colony, Chinna Vaathiyar, Kamal took it to another level. Kamal had comedy roles in his earlier movie, thanks to K Balachander, but his collaboration with Crazy Mohan were pure gems. Though Indran Chandran, Magalir Matum where Kamal played a cameo happened, their next best was Sathi Leelavathi in 1995. This one was from Balu Mahendra stable, and it was laugh a riot. This had Balu mahendra style, of human emotions being the central part.
But Crazy had his share, surprising were the fact that he penned dialogues for Arunachalam, Mr Romeo, Rathchagan. They were serious movies but he stepped from his forte and did justice in those as well. He was a smart person who quit his cushy private job to movies only on the promise of Kamal. He continued his stage plays amidst the busy movie schedules. Also found time for TV serials, and abroad stage plays. He was a torch bearer for tamil stage drama which had died a slow death. He was spiritual as well as modernist. He could debate about Alwar Pasurams as well as about 5G technology.
Avvai Shanmugi which was based on Mrs.Doubtfire, was another feather in the cap. Kamal playing a woman, this movie was a silver jubilee hit. It had Gemini Ganesan, Nagesh, Nasar, Manivannan, Delhi Ganesh a stellar cast at it. Meena played his wife, and kamal-crazy combo attracted their own legion of fans.“Aadurathu elam dance, solradhu elaam udanceu” , “padal petra sthalam, vaali vairamuthu elaam padikranga” . This one line padal petra sthalam implying temple sites known for odhuvar sites, comparing that with AVM temple and telling a contemporary lyricist names, is something else. You needed eyes and ears to enjoy other comedy, but you needed a mind and common sense to understand and enjoy this crazy comedy.
Post 2000s saw four movies adding to their ensemble credit-Thenali, Panchathanthiram, Pammal K Sambandam, and Vasool Raja MBBS. With the exception of PKS which was a mediocre hit, rest of them were massive hits. Panchathiram comedy of “munnadi, pinnadi, kannadi”, “maggi short form, maragathavalli long form, full form” were few out of a dozen. Tamil Cinema had intelligent person penning serious dialogues, and comic writers penning comedy scenes.But we never had intelligent people penning comedy dialogues and Crazy filled the void. His dialogues had that, and millions of views on youtube, and numerous tiktok videos confirm the fact. He would continue to live via his movies and fans alike.
