Man of many talents: Actor Madhan Bob passes away at 71 after battling cancer

CHENNAI: A former heavyweight boxer, musician, and a beloved comedian and character artist, Madhan Bob, passed away in Chennai on Saturday.The 71-year-old actor, remembered for his distinctive laugh and "bob eyes" was battling cancer, family sources said. Born Krishnamoorthy, the eighth child in his family, Madhan-as he was called by his family to distinguish him from his uncle with the same name- had a deep interest in music. He learned to play a bulbul tarang, which he picked up from a local exhibition, and soon managed to coax his parents into buying him a guitar, which he soon mastered.

He quit his job as a salesman to become a full-time musician, making jingles for TV and radio advertisements and background scores for stage plays by S Ve Sekar, YG Mahendra, and TV serials, including the popular Hindi serial Sangarsh.

While composing music, he acted in some of the stage plays. Soon, he received a call from director K Balachander. Madhan Bob, who was referred to Balachander by his father's friend Chander, who owned an STD booth, thought he was being called for a chance to compose music in one of his films. When the director offered him a role in his 1992 film 'Vaname Ellai', he initially turned it down. He was coaxed to play the role, and there was no looking back. In his second movie, 'Thevar Magan' (1992), he shared screen space with Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal Hassan. Since then, Madhan acted in nearly 700 films, including 'Friends', 'Ethir Neechal', 'Poove Unakaga', 'Nammavar', 'Kaavalan', and 'Linga,But his love for music continued.

Director K S Ravikumar had once recalled how music director A R Rahman called Madhan his guru during the music composition of 'Thenali' (2000). He fought hard to overcome his stammer and once even cried to his spiritual guru Kanchi Acharya Chandrasekarendra Saraswathy when he was a young boy. In one of the interviews, he talked about how he learned to correct his problem by being his own therapist.Madhan is survived by his wife Susheela, daughter Janani, and son Archith. His mortal remains have been kept for public homage at his residence in Adyar. The cremation will be at Besant Nagar crematorium on Sunday.