The world lost quite a bit of its craziness on Monday as renowned playwright and inimitable comedy writer ‘Crazy’ Mohan passed away in Chennai due to a heart attack. He was 66.
Earning his prefix ‘Crazy’ from one of the earliest plays he wrote, Mohan was known for setting a trend in Tamil comedy, which was clean and enjoyable for people of all ages. A distinct feature of his scripts was how he intertwined comedy with the story, thus ensuring that the narrative moved ahead quickly and the comedy track didn't poke out separately from the story.
Some of the trademark features which made his scripts stand out and easily identifiable to the audience are the frequent usage of mistaken identities, wordplay and one-liners. He was known for his affable and intelligent comedy.
While the comedy world mourns the death of their icon, we go through his filmography to pick out some of the best wordplay that sprang out of his pen.
Michael Madhana Kama Rajan (MMKR)
Perhaps one of Crazy Mohan’s masterpieces which cemented the comedy duo that he and Kamal Haasan went on to become, MMKR had some absolute gems when it came to wordplay.
Sample this.
Kaameshwaran (Kamal Haasan playing a Palakkad Brahmin cook) and Thripurasundari (Urvashi, also a Palakkad Iyer in the movie) speak to each other for the first time.
Kamal: Naan proper Palakkad alla, thottaduthu oru kuggramam (I am not from proper Palakkad, but from a small village nearby)
Urvashi: Graamamum cook-aa? Neengalum cook-u. (Oh village is small, you are also a cook. The line employs the twin usage of the prefix/word Ku, meaning small, and cook, as in chef)
Watch it here from 37 minutes.
A few minutes before Kameshwaran meets Thripurasundari, his father Palakkad Mani Iyer (Delhi Ganesh) and he discuss a culinary accident that had occurred in one of their dishes – a fish lands in the pot of sambar. Scared of the repercussions if this is discovered by the guests, the two stand outside the dining hall, discussing if they should come clean about this to the client. At that time, by sheer coincidence, two of the guests walk past the duo, talking about something totally unrelated, yet using the word ‘mean’ in English. When Kameshwaran worries about why everybody is talking about ‘meen’ (fish in Tamil), his father clarifies to him that they were all talking in English.
Avvai Shanmughi
Another full-length comedy movie starring Kamal Haasan, Gemini Ganesan, Meena and Manivannan in pivotal roles, Crazy Mohan’s language prowess was on full display in this film.
An epic wordplay in this movie starts somewhere at the 1 hour 33 minute mark when Janaki (Meena) calls out to her estranged husband Pandian, now disguised as Avvai Shanmughi, requesting "her" to help when she takes a bath. Janaki asks Shanmughi to take her towel from the cupboard and walks out of the bath tub, while Shanmugi stares at her, his mouth wide open.
Janaki: Enna mami, peyadanja maari paakrel (Why do you look stunned, as if you saw a ghost)
Shanmughi: Paathu romba naal achey….. (been long since I saw you naked)
Janaki: Enna? (what?)
Shanmughi: Illa, Bath romba neram aachey, jaladosham pudichukume nu than (No, I meant your bath took a long time and you might catch a cold)
From the exchange between Shanmughi and Mudhaliyar (Mudhali-yaaro - played by Manivannan) to the memorable scene where Kamal, disguised as a woman, chats with Janaki, Avvai Shanmugi still is one of the best works of Crazy Mohan.
Kamal: Onnavar TV la (Your guy is on TV)
Meena: One avar lam irukkadhu mami (The programme will not be an hour long)
Kamal: Illa, unnoda avar TV la nnen (No, I meant your husband is on TV)
Watch it here at 2 hours 10 minutes.
Vasool Raja MBBS
This remake of Munnabhai MBBS might outrank the original only because of its ensemble cast in Tamil along with the script written by Crazy Mohan.
His famous ‘Dei Doctor’ and ‘Day Doctor’ quip and ‘Peru mattum Ganga-tharen, Kaaviri-tharen nu vechukkittu…’ (His aides kidnap a man named Gangadharan to get back the money he borrowed from Vasool Raja's client. Tharen in Tamil means ‘will give’. The line means ‘You just keep fancy names like Ganga-tharen, Kaaviri-tharen, but you won’t return the money you borrowed) line still lead to stitches on one’s sides.
Panchathanthiram
One of the best scripts ever written in Tamil cinema for its comic value, Panchathanthiram did only average business at the box-office when it was released. The film, however, went on to earn cult status in later years. Starring some of Kamal Haasan’s favourites like Jayaram and Ramesh Aravind, the movie still leaves people in splits each time it is watched.
His ‘Eyes la Ice vei’ and the rant with ‘male engine and female engine’ are memorable to this day.
At one point in the movie, Ram (Kamal) tries to convey to his wife Mythili (Simran) to run and escape from Maggi (Ramya Krishnan). Mythili, already in a misunderstanding with Ram continues to irritate him while he tackles Maggi.
Ram: Ne poi tholayen (Get lost)
Mythili: Poi tholai aa? (Get lost??)
Ram: Illa Illa, tholava po-ngradha tension la apdi solten (No no, I meant go far and escape)
It was in the same sequence that the word ‘kattu’ with its two meanings (to tie and to marry) was put to use in the most hilarious manner.
Apart from these, Kaadhala Kaadhala (the ‘Noor Mahal’ joke still leaves one in splits), Thenali (Kovalan aa? Kevalan aaga ullaan, adhuvum Kaavalan udaiyil) and Pammal K Samandham (Saavadichtanga- Saavu adi adichtaanga) also are some of the movies with comedy tracks that have ‘Crazy’ Mohan written all over them. Crazy Mohan never underestimated the intelligence of his audience and the comedy he dished out was always unmatched in the industry.
His work other than with Kamal Haasan is also known for its comedy content and clever dialogues. For example, in Chinna Vaathiyar, the hilarious exchange between Idichapuli Selvaraj and Goundamani, in the presence of Crazy Mohan has tremendous rewatch value even today. The way Crazy Mohan has written the dialogues, carefully pairing rhyming words like moi-poi, nurse-purse, jimikki-dimikki etc and stitching them within the story and the context is something worth taking note of. Similarly, in the movie Aaha, Crazy Mohan again wrote sequences involving a person with hearing disabilities. The comedy that arose out of situations involving the deaf man and of course Bhanupriya and Delhi Ganesh evokes laughter and also propels the story forward.