Cheenu Mohan, key member of Crazy Mohan’s troupe, passes away

The 61-year-old is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. He was suffering from kidney ailment for some time before he succumbed to an unexpected heart attack.

The popular comedy dramatist Crazy Mohan’s plays were incomplete without the characters Madhu and Cheenu. 

If Balaji made a name for himself playing Madhu, it was Mohan who stole the show as Cheenu that earned him the sobriquet ‘Cheenu’ Mohan and the duo, who used to keep the audience in splits, was hailed as the parallels of Laurel and Hardy on the Tamil stage.

Cheenu Mohan had also acted in a few films like Rajinikanth starrer Thalapathy, Varusham 16, Anjali, Jerry, and the more recent Kolamaavu Kokila. 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 both them performed their roles with ease.

Since then, Mohan had acted in several plays, including Crazy Thieves in Palavakkam, Here is Crazy, Madhu Jaakirathai, Madhu Plus Two among others. He appeared in over 4,000 of their stage plays as a part of Crazy Creations.

He had also toured extensively abroad with the team as part of the plays. Condoling his death, Crazy Mohan said, “Mohan 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.’’

‘Madhu’ Balaji, who shares great rapport with Mohan said, “I lost a great friend. He was a part of my routine. It is a huge loss for me.”