Veteran Tamil comedy actor ‘Loose’ Mohan died of a prolonged illness here on Sunday morning. He was 84.
Well-known for his dialogue delivery in Madras Tamil, Mohan, whose real name was A. Mohanasundaram, was born in Kancheepuram. His family moved to Chennai when he was young and his father, known as ‘Loose’ Arumugam, also acted in a few Tamil films.
Mohan made his debut at the age of 16 in a Tamil film Harichandra staring famous South Indian star P.U. Chinnappa in 1944. According to the actor’s first grandson J. Sai Prasad, Mohan played a role as Chinnappa’s son and acted and dubbed in his original voice in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada versions of the movie.
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He shot into fame in a hit movie “Rosapoo Ravikaikari” (1979) starring Sivakumar. He had also acted with leading stars, including Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.
With over 1,000 films to his credit, Mohan became synonymous with Madras lingo. His dialogue delivery was well received by the Tamil audience. He also acted in four Marathi films and played cameos in a film each in Bhojpuri, Hindi and Tulu.
The government conferred on him the Kalaimamani Award in 2000.
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The comedy actor’s last appearance was in “Azhagi” (2002), with Parthiban and Nandita Das playing the lead roles. Mohan played the small role of a politician.
Last October, Mohan approached the city police commissioner’s office with a complaint that his son was not taking care of him. The Mylapore police pacified the actor and reunited him with his son.
Mohan who resided on Salai Street, Mylapore, was admitted to a private hospital on R.K. Salai. He died around 6 a.m. on Sunday.