Lasting impact
MALATHI RANGARAJAN
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‘Crazy’ Venkatesh, who passed away recently, will always be remembered for his ability to laugh amidst odds.
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‘Crazy’ Venkatesh
The last time I met ‘Crazy’ Venkatesh was for an interview, a couple of years ago. I had called him the previous day and he sounded very enthusiastic. I was a little puzzled because I knew he wasn’t keeping well, but the cheerful to
ne wasn’t that of an ailing person at all!
His call the next morning was another surprise. “I’m at your office car park. Could you come downstairs?” I wasn’t expecting him. “Why did you have to strain yourself so? I thought we were meeting at your place a couple of days later,” I said and went down to meet him. Only then did I note the condition he was in. The zest in his voice had fooled me. Sitting in his car, he pointed to the seat beside him. “Please sit down,” he said. “I never like to postpone matters. You said you wished to talk to me. I decided to come over. I work despite my impediments,” he smiled. Failing eyesight, hearing impairment, blood sugar, loss of legs, transplanted kidneys … and he called them mere impediments!
That very moment I realised the man didn’t need any succour – on the other hand he could give others a lesson or two in grit! His illness may have crippled him, and stopped him from being an actor. But it couldn’t shake his mental strength!
“Everyday is a bonus for me. But for my friends at Crazy Creations, I would have died long ago. But what the hell! I’m still raring to go,” he laughed and spoke at length about his agency Shivalayam that did liaison work for up and coming actors, writers and others. “I’m also going to direct a film. Do you know that I worked for director Khanthan as production executive of ‘Jerry’? Without my friends and a supportive wife I would have gone long ago …” There wasn’t an iota of self-pity in the voice and the zest was almost contagious.
An inspiring figure
‘Crazy’ Venkatesh, (“Don’t give my name as M.B. Venkatesan. I’m nothing without the ‘Crazy’ tag,” he had said.), passed away on Independence Day — he had chosen an apt occasion for his liberation! He was just 52.
“All of us drew enthusiasm from him. That was why when the previous evening, he said, ‘Tell Vasu, Mohan and others, I’m fed up with this constant struggle with my body,’ I was shocked,” says ‘Crazy’ Balaji. And just a day after he mentally gave up the will to live, he went away!
“He was a sincere artist, a loyal friend and an honest soul! From Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam and Suhasini, everyone who knew him liked him,” Balaji continues. “None can forget the teacher he played in ‘Jurassic Baby.’ He would never cry out of any performance because of ill health. ‘Crazy Creations’ was his home, and cinema, his passion. He yearned to achieve a lot …”
“If there are feathers in my cap, most of them are Venkatesh’s,” says ‘Crazy’ Mohan in inimitable style. “He would sit with me and make copies of the entire play. And for ‘Marriage made in a Saloon,’ he was the one who suggested the title. He travelled with us to the U.S. for plays and has several fans there.”
As soon as Kamal Haasan got the news of the death, he went over to Venkatesh’s home. “He was shocked. ‘I just watched the scenes in which we worked together for ‘Michael Madhana Kama Rajan,’ this morning,’ he kept saying.”
“Venkatesh admired Kamal immensely. ‘If Venkatesh knows you are here, he might sit up even now,’ we told Kamal. However crazy and wishful the thought, only if it had come true!” Balaji sighs.
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