Tamil comedy genius Crazy Mohan's death from a heart attack has left his longtime collaborator Kamal Haasan bereft. Crazy Mohan died in a Chennai hospital on Monday at the age of 67. "After he complained of pain in his chest and suffered a heart attack, he was rushed to Kauvery hospital in the afternoon. Efforts were taken to revive him but unfortunately he passed away around 2 pm," a family source told news agency IANS. His death prompted a massive outpouring of grief on social media; among the messages was one from Kamal Haasan.
Kamal Haasan's letter, written in Tamil, spoke of Crazy Mohan's 'child-like heart' and how he had been like a brother to the actor-politician. "Friendship has no end," Kamal Haasan wrote, "Mohan's comedy will live on through his fans."
Read Kamal Haasan's statement here:
— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) June 10, 2019
Crazy Mohan's association with Kamal Haasan resulted in many memorable comic sequences in films such as Michael Madana Kama Rajan, Sathi Leelavathi and Apoorva Sagodharargal. Crazy Mohan also wrote the dialogue for and had a role in Indian, one of Kamal Haasan's biggest hits.
Crazy Mohan, who had an engineering degree, was born Mohan Rangachari and added the prefix 'Crazy' after his 1976 play Crazy Thieves Of Paalavakkam became a smash success, later being turned into a TV series. With his brother Maadhu Balaji, Crazy Mohan began writing plays and staging them with his theatre group Crazy Creations.
In 1983, Crazy Mohan forayed into films, writing the dialogue for K Balachander's Poikkal Kuthirai in which Kamal Haasan had a cameo.
Crazy Mohan received the title 'Kalaimamani' from the Tamil Nadu government for his contribution to the arts and literature.
