From Vasool Raja MBBS:
Raja : Naa Vasool Raja. Inge naa irukkum
bodhu yavan ya unna vasool panninu pomudiyum? Yavan aale mudiyunren!
Zakir : Yaman aale mudiyum.
Raja : Paathiya! Indha joke ku onniyun
koracchal ille.
Apologies for starting with a death joke but that's
what Late. Mr. "Crazy" Mohan left us with - a joke for every
situation.
As a child, I was not allowed to watch many movies. Once
in a while, I was taken to Mylapore or Alwarpet for music concerts, where I
slept, or stage plays, where I tried to figure out what was going on. All I
understood was that multiple plays had a Maadhu character, unlike in the movies,
where names changed. I also remember one aunty who would exit the stage in a
red saree and re-enter the stage in less than 2 minutes, wearing a blue saree.
I even asked my mom how they changed costumes so fast. And halfway through the
play, there would be a felicitation of the troupe and one uncle with hardly any
hair in the front half of his head would receive the biggest present or garland
or shawl. I would wonder why, as he was not even the "hero" of the
drama. Little did I understand playwrights then. There were some jokes I would
laugh at and some only my parents would understand. The take-home was that the
play was funny and all ages enjoyed it.
Only later when I could change TV channels as I liked (and
pick among DD1, DD2 and Podhigai), I started watching similar plays on Podhigai.
I learnt what a "set" was, where the walls were made of cardboard and
not bricks. So my initial ideas about stage plays were by Crazy Creations. Then
eventually I started seeing that same uncle in movies. Once when I recognised
him, I was asked to give him respect and not call him crazy (LOL :-D). I am
sure several kids of my generation would have had a similar experience with one
of the wittiest and funniest writers Tamil industry has seen. I clearly
remember 3 plays - "Maadhu Cheenu", "Jurassic Baby" and "Chocolate
Krishna". The last one was performed during our college culturals more
than 7 years ago and that was when I saw him last.
Kamal Hassan, a very talented and highly appreciated actor,
could connect to people through comedy movies truly because of Crazy Mohan's
scripts. Michael Madana Kama Rajan, Avvai Shanmughi, Sathi Leelavathi,
Panchathanthiram, Vasool Raja MBBS, Thenali, Kaadhala Kaadhala, name it and it would have been the Mohan-Kamal duo's work. There are still some jokes that I newly discover while watching any of
these movies again.
Personally, I have adored Crazy Mohan and appreciated his
scripts for the kind of comedies they contain. I do enjoy other types of humour
like insult, slapstick, etc., but people who know me would not be surprised when I say I look up to his "mokkai" comedies and witty puns! I come up with
a similar class of jokes (don't beat me up for the comparison) and hence have
always felt a connection while watching his comedies. So in loose terms, he has
been a role model for me. The Tamil theatre and film industry will miss his
creativity and "crazy"ness. May he RIP.
From his last movie:
"Bike le starting
trouble na choke podanum; life le starting trouble na joke podanum... Take
things easy; life is crazy"
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| From Kalyana Samayal Saadham |
