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Crazy Mohan

Indian actor (1952-2019)

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Mohan Rangachari (16 October 1952, 10 June 2019) known professionally as Crazy Mohan, was an Indian actor, comedian, screenwriter and playwright known for his work in Tamil theatre and cinema. An engineer by profession, Mohan started writing plays and established his own drama troupe called "Crazy Creations" in 1979. In addition to dramas and tele-serials, Mohan worked as a dialogue writer on a number of comedy films. Mohan had written over 30 plays, worked on over 40 films, having cameo roles in each film, and written 100 short stories. The Tamil Nadu state government in the year 2004, awarded him the Kalaimamani title for excellence in the field of arts and literature.

01Career

Mohan was a student at the College of Engineering, Guindy, where he graduated as a mechanical engineer in 1973. His guide was his classmate S. Ravi, who was the President of Tamil Mandram. Before becoming a full-time writer, Mohan was working at Sundaram - Clayton Limited.

At the College of Engineering, Guindy, in February 1972, he first wrote Great Bank Robbery, a skit for an intra class contest within the Guindy Engineering college for which he received the Best Writer award. It was followed by scripts for his younger brother Maadhu Balaji's drama troupe at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai. The first full-length play he wrote was Crazy Thieves in Paalavakkam for Natakapriya in 1976, which was a runaway hit and gave him the nom de plume "Crazy" Mohan. He also wrote scripts for Tenant Commandments and One More Exorcist.

After writing for other productions, Mohan decided to start his own troupe and founded Crazy Creations in 1979. The troupe has since created over 30 plays with original scripts and staged over 6,500 shows all over India and abroad. His play Chocolate Krishna had been staged 500 times within three years. His brother Maadhu Balaji, who is an actor, plays the hero in all his dramas.

The first feature film he worked on was K. Balachander's Poikkal Kudhirai for which he wrote the dialogues. The film itself was based on Mohan's drama Marriage made in Saloon. He went on to write dialogues for several comedy films, particularly starring Kamal Haasan, which include Sathi Leelavathi, Kaathala Kaathala, Michael Madana Kama Rajan, Apoorva Sagodharargal, Indian, Avvai Shanmughi, Thenali, Panchathanthiram and Vasool Raja MBBS. The 2006 film Jerry had a story and screenplay by Mohan and featured Mohan's entire theatre team, including its director S. B. Khanthan. He has also acted in supporting or cameo roles in the films he wrote the dialogue or script for.

In 1989, he also began producing television comedy series. Serials he produced include Here is Crazy, Kalyanathukku Kalyanam with over 600 episodes and Vidathu Sirippu, with the latter winning the Best Comedy Serial award from Mylapore Academy in 2005. He also wrote 100 short stories.

Mohan was also a distinguished artist who has sketched/painted nearly 60 aesthetic paintings, including portraits of spiritual leaders and eminent personalities, Raja Ravi Verma's portraitures and portraits of Gods and Prophets.

Mohan penned at least one Venba every day, over 40,000 Venbas in his lifetime.

Mohan (right) along with former president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Mohan (right) along with former president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

02Awards

  • Best Dialogue Writer - 14th Cinema Express Awards for Chinna Mapillai
  • The Tamil Nadu state government in the year 2004, awarded him the Kalaimamani title for excellence in the field of arts and literature.
  • Professional excellence award by Martin O'Malley, the then governor of Maryland, USA, for his outstanding contributions to Tamil literature, fine arts, theatres for more than 38 years.

03Theatrical works

Some of his popular dramas as a dialogue writer and actor are listed below.

  • Maadhu +2
  • Jurassic Baby
  • Marriage Made in Saloon
  • Meesai Aanaalum Manaivi
  • Alaavudeenum 100 Watts Bulbum
  • Crazy Kishkintha
  • Return of Crazy Thieves
  • Oru Babiyin Diary Kurippu
  • Kathalikka Maadhu Undu
  • Maadhu Mirandal
  • Madhil Mel Maadhu
  • Chocolate Krishna
  • Satellite Saamiyaar
  • Crazy Thieves in Paalavaakkam
  • Oru Sontha Veedu Vaadagai Veedagirathu
  • Ayya Amma Ammamma
  • Google Gadothgajan
  • Crazy Premier League (CPL)
  • Veetai Maatri Katti Paar
  • Kalyanam Yematri Panni Paar
  • Kudumbam Pirithhu Nadathi Paar

04Filmography

As a writer

YearFilmWriterNotes
1983Poikkal KudhiraiStory and
dialogues
Based on his play Marriage Made in Saloon
1988Katha NayaganDialoguesUncredited
1989Apoorva SagodharargalDialogues
1990Michael Madana Kama RajanDialogues
Unnai Solli KutramillaiDialogues
Indiran ChandiranDialogues
1993Chinna MapillaiDialogues
1994Magalir MattumScreenplay and
dialogues
Vietnam ColonyDialogues
1995Chinna VathiyarDialogues
Engirundho VandhanDialogues
Sathi LeelavathiDialogues
1996Avvai ShanmugiYesUncredited
Mr. RomeoDialogues
1997ArunachalamDialogues
RatchaganDialoguesUncredited
Thedinen VanthathuScreenplay and
dialogues
Aahaa..!Dialogues
1998Kaathala KaathalaStory and
dialogues
Kangalin VaarthaigalDialogues
1999Endrendrum KadhalDialogues
Poovellam KettupparDialogues
2000ThenaliDialogues
2001Little JohnDialoguesTamil version only
2002PanchathanthiramDialogues
Pammal K. SambandamDialogues
2004Vasool Raja MBBSDialogues
2006Idhaya ThirudanDialoguesAlso screenplay assistant alongside Ramesh Khanna and S. Guhan
JeryYes
2010Kola Kolaya MundhirikaDialogues
Manmadhan AmbuYesUncredited
2012Naan EeDialogues

As an actor

YearFilmRoleNotes
1989 Apoorva Sagodharargal Car customer
Indrudu Chandrudu Mental patient Telugu film
1990 Michael Madhana Kamarajan Grocery shop owner
Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari Kannada speaking tourist Telugu film
1992 Thambi Pondatti
Kalikaalam
1994 Magalir Mattum Doctor
1995 Chinna Vathiyar Doctor
1996 Indian Parthasarathy
Mr. Romeo Shop manager
Avvai Shanmughi Interviewer
1997 Sishya Manager
Thedinen Vanthathu Bank manager
Arunachalam Ayyasamy
1998 Kaathala Kaathala Junior Vikadanantha
1999 Kannodu Kanbathellam Kalaiselvam
Endrendrum Kadhal Astrologer
2001 Sigamani Ramamani Sigamani's brother-in-law
Dost Astrologer
2002 Pammal K. Sambandam ENT Specialist
2004 Vasool Raja MBBS Dr. Margabandhu
2005 Idhaya Thirudan
2006 Jerry Rukku
2008SakkarakattiLibrarian
2010 Kola Kolaya Mundhirika Deaf Judge
2012 Naan Ee Dr. Kameshwara Iyer
2013 Puthagam Varadachari
Kalyana Samayal Saadham Dr. Kamlesh Final film role

Television

Plays
Web series

05Death

Mohan complained of stomach pain and breathlessness in the morning of 10 June 2019. After he suffered a heart attack, Mohan was rushed to Kauvery Hospital by Maadhu Balaji. A team of doctors worked on Mohan to revive him, but within 20 minutes, all efforts to revive him failed, and Mohan was declared dead at around 11:00 AM IST the same day.

Watch videos about Crazy MohanExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Crazy Mohan, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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