Balaji needs no introduction to fans of Tamil theatre. His joy of being onstage is clearly visible from the intensity on his face, and his expressions when he is acting. The younger brother of playwright-actor-scriptwriter Crazy Mohan, ‘Maadhu’ Balaji is absolutely serious when it comes to his business. “Comedy is not an easy thing. To get the timing, for example. At the end of a play, you hear resounding applause, right? It is for the hard work the troupe has put in. Our sense of humour is intended for the entertainment of the masses, and our plays strike a chord — especially among the kids. When it is tough to make a film run for 50 days these days, our play Chocolate Krishna, has completed 800 shows,” he says.
Sharing the secret ingredient behind attracting audiences to stage plays, Balaji says that clean comedies that appeal to family audiences, work really well.
“Despite hurdles, Crazy Creations has had consistent success. Cinema has enough violence, slapstick comedy and other elements. When audiences come to stage plays, they want to have a hearty laugh. That’s what we aim at. Tamil mainstream dramas are receiving a boost in terms of the audience turn out, compared to the last five years,” he tells us.
The theatre artiste tells us how during the 1970s and 80s, almost every drama troupe was full of amateur artistes who aspired to get into films. “But I have always been focused on the stage. I resigned my bank job to focus completely on theatre. Not that I didn’t like cinema. Each troupe had its own loyal audience then. We made our mark without stepping on the other’s toes. Though I received offers in films, I didn’t take them up because balancing both would have been difficult. I became quite comfortable with what we were doing. There’s no regret,” he adds.
The script and the title of all his plays keep changing, but the hero’s name in all the plays of Crazy Mohan is always ‘Maadhu’. When asked the reason, Balaji said, “Maadhu was a take off from the Nagesh-starrer Ethir Neechal. Since then, it’s been the same. It feels nice to see that people connect with the character so well, over the years and I want to continue with the same name as long as the audiences want to.”
What plans, next? “It feels nice to have such a loyal viewership. After Chocolate Krishna and Google Gadothgajan, our next play is titled Vambu Kana Ondru Kanden. Through these years, we even did corporate shows. We have reached the stage where we need to live up to my brand image, so we keep updating ourselves. For example, we bring in computers, apps and even IPL references to our plays. In fact, Mohan makes it a point to re-write a script when we feel it has become old,” he concludes.
