Chennai: Popular dramatist Crazy Mohan’s plays are incomplete without the characters Madhu – Cheenu. If Balaji made a name for himself playing Madhu, it was Mohan who stole the show as Cheenu.The duo was hailed as Laurel and Hardy of Tamil stage. Unfortunately, this morning, ‘Cheenu’ Mohan passed away due to cardiac arrest at his residence in Nolambur. He was 61.
Mohan had been suffering from kidney ailment for some time. He had acted in a few films, including Thalapathy, Varusham 16, Anjali, Jerry, Iraivi, Andavan Kattalai and Kolamaavu Kokila. Mohan is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Mohan joined Crazy Mohan’s Crazy Creations drama troupe in 1979. After doing small roles, he caught the attention of Crazy Mohan with his performance and his passion for humour ensured he got meaty roles in their subsequent plays.
Inspired by popular comedians Jerry Lewis and Laurel and Hardy, Crazy Mohan wrote plays with lead characters Madhu and Cheenu. And Balaji and Mohan performed them with ease.
Since then, Mohan had acted in several plays including Crazy Thieves in Palavakkam, Here is Crazy, Madhu Jakirathai, Madhu Plus Two among others. He was part and parcel of Crazy Creations that he appeared in over 4,000 of their stage plays. He also toured extensively abroad with the team as part of the plays.
Condoling his death, Crazy Mohan, said, “He made millions forget their worries and laugh their heart out. As a trouper since the inception of Crazy Creations, he had a well-knit friendship with each and every one in the troupe. We pray for his atma to get poorna shanthi and nargathi.”
Creative director of Crazy Creations, S B Kanthan, said, “Our friendship is over four decades old. He had a great penchant for humour. He was extremely witty. Madhu and I spent a lot of time together with Mohan. Not just for our plays, we also often met to go out for films and dinners. He was very kind.”
“Since he stayed on the outskirts of the city and developed some health complications, he could not continue to act in our stage plays. However, he was very supportive of us. A few days ago, we had a long chat and he assured he would be back on stage soon.”
On many days, after our drama gets over, Mohan would come to my home and stay with me. He made my father laugh aloud – more than Madhu did. When we did Madhu Jakiradhai, Mohan acted in three roles in the play. One of the characters demanded he appear bald. So, he shaved his head whenever we staged the play for the next one year,” he added.
‘Madhu’ Balaji, who shares great rapport with Mohan, said, “I lost a great friend. He was part and parcel of my routine. It is a huge loss for me.”
Seenu Mohan will be cremated 29 December (Sunday).