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Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy, better known as Cho Ramaswamy (5 October 1934 – 7 December 2016), was an Indian actor, comedian, editor, political commentator, satirist, playwright, film director and lawyer from
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
. He was a popular comedian in the 1960s and 1970s, and had acted with all the top stars in that period.


Early life

Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy was fondly addressed and remembered as Cho. Born in a
Tamil Brahmin Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana in addition to other regions of India. The ...
family of lawyers


Family

The elder son of R. Srinivasa Iyer and Rajammal, Cho had a younger brother, who was also an actor. Cho died on 7 December 2016. He has two children Sriram Ramaswamy and Sindhuja. He did his schooling from P. S. High School. His niece is actress
Ramya Krishnan Ramya Krishnan (born 15 September 1970), also credited as Ramya Krishna, is an Indian actress predominantly known for her work in Telugu and Tamil films, along with appearances in Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. Early life Ramya was born ...
. The name 'Cho' was the name of the character he played in a Tamil play written by Bhageerathan titled ''Thenmozhiyaal''.


Film career


Films

Cho made his debut in 1963 with ''Paar Magale Paar'' as a comedian. From 1963 to 2005 he acted in 180 Tamil films and directed 5 films. He also wrote and directed 20 plays. He also wrote and acted in 27 Television serials. He wrote 10 books. Apart from being an actor, he was both the screenplay and story writer of films such as ''Thenmazhai'', ''Ninaivil Nindraval'', ''Bommalattam'', ''Aayiram Poi'' and ''Panam Paththum Seyyum'', all of which proved to be box office hits. Cho played the role of a bike mechanic in the play ''Petralthan Pillaiya'', written by Pattu of the United Amateur Artistes (UAA), which became a huge success. When the play was later adapted into a film by director A. Bhimsingh,
Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...
persuaded Cho to play the same role in the film too, leading to Cho's entry into the film world. Cho and Jayalalithaa have worked together in 19 films and also had been part of the same drama troupe.


Frequent collaborations

Cho as an actor has been pitted against other actors across generations. His comic timing against T. S. Balaiah in ''Manam Oru Kurangu'', or with M. R. Radha, or many times with actors like V. K. Ramaswamy, Nagesh, Manorama and Sachu in many films brought out the best in him. Cho and Manorama were paired together in 20 films, which included ''Malligaip poo, Annaiyum pithavum, Dharisanam, Anbait thedi, Ninaivil Nindraval, Nirai Kudam, Therottam, Aayiram Poi, Mohammed Bin Tughlaq, Bommalattam, Pugundha Veedu, Vilayaattu Pillai, Kanavan, Rojavin Raja'' and ''Velum Mayilum Thunai'' and were pitted in a non-couple role in ''Suryagandhi'', ''Delhi Mappilai'' and ''Naadagame Ulagam''. Cho acted alongside Nagesh in ''Thenmazhai'', ''Ninaivil Nindraval'', ''Ulagam Ivvalavudhaan'' and ''Bommalattam'' among others. He was paired opposite Sachu in films like ''Deva Sankalpam'', ''Galaataa Kalyanam'' and ''Delhi Mappilai''. Cho has acted with the MGR–Jayalalitha combo in films like ''Oli Villaku, Kanavan, Kumarikottam, Mattukara Velan, Aadimai Penn, Engal Thangam, Thedi Vantha Mapillai, En Annan'' and ''Neerum Nerupum''. Cho has acted with MGR in many films like ''Petralthaan Pillaiya, Sangey Muzhangu, Rickshawkaaran'' and ''Thalaivan''. Cho has acted with Jayalalitha in other films like ''Bommalaattam, Galaattaak kalyanam, Suryagandhi, Vandhaale Maharaasi'' and ''Anbai Thedi''. Cho has acted with Sivakumar in films like ''Shanmugapriya, Onne Onnu Kanne Kannu, Thaip Paasam, Uravu Solla Oruvan, Aan Pillai Singam, Yaarukkum Vetkamillai, Chinna Kuyil Padudhu, Sattai Illatha Pambaram'' and ''Kanna Thorakiran Samy''. Among these, ''Yaarukkum Vetkamillai'' was directed by Cho in 1976.


Journalism

He was the founder and editor of the Tamil magazine '' Thuglak''. Politicians such as J. B. Kripalani,
Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...
, Karunanidhi, Chandra Shekhar,
G. K. Moopanar Govindaswamy Karuppiah Moopanar (19 August 1931 – 30 August 2001), known as G. K. Moopanar, was a Tamil Nadu Congress Committee leader, parliamentarian, and social worker. He served as Member of the Rajya Sabha, president of Tamil Nadu Congr ...
, M. G. Ramachandran,
Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016), popularly known as Amma, was an Indian actress, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. She ...
, Ramakrishna Hegde, N. T. Rama Rao,
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...
, and L. K. Advani,
Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (, ; ; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a big-tent liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. ...
,
Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...
and P. Chidambaram were targets of his editorial attacks. In his last years, he predicted that
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
would "win laurels for India" in the future, and also praised
Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016), popularly known as Amma, was an Indian actress, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. She ...
for her administration of Tamil Nadu. Cho enjoyed challenging MG Ramachandran (MGR) and his politics, while Karunanidhi stayed his target. The
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK, also abbreviated as ADMK), also shortened to Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party with great influence in the Federated state, sta ...
(AIADMK), in his opinion, was populist and lacked ideology. When Jayalalithaa got into power and followed in MGR's path, however, the absence of ideology of the party was no longer an issue for him. On 25 January 2017, the Government of India announced a
posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...
Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...
award for his contribution towards Literature & Education – Journalism.


Politics

Cho has been described as a right-wing public intellectual in tributes. Cho was publicly opposed to Sri Lankan Tamil militants, particularly the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), at a time when Sri lanka's ethnic crisis was at its peak and almost all political parties in Tamil Nadu highlighted the issue of the
Sri Lankan Tamils Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province, form the pluralit ...
. The rise of the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
(BJP) and
Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...
wave made Cho their sympathiser. He started involving in direct politics as a mediator. In 1999, he was instrumental in bringing the
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...
(DMK) together in an alliance with BJP. He was successful in bringing
G. K. Moopanar Govindaswamy Karuppiah Moopanar (19 August 1931 – 30 August 2001), known as G. K. Moopanar, was a Tamil Nadu Congress Committee leader, parliamentarian, and social worker. He served as Member of the Rajya Sabha, president of Tamil Nadu Congr ...
, of the Tamil Maanila Congress and Karunanidhi together in the 1996 elections, and getting Rajnikanth to publicly support the alliance to defeat
Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016), popularly known as Amma, was an Indian actress, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. She ...
. Post 2004, he became soft towards Jayalalithaa and spent all his energy in opposing the DMK and promoting BJP. Later on, in 2011, he convinced
Vijayakanth Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politi ...
to partner with the
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK, also abbreviated as ADMK), also shortened to Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party with great influence in the Federated state, sta ...
(AIADMK). Cho was an ardent supporter of Narendra Modi. Cho had campaigned extensively for Prime Minister
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
during the
2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...
; Modi described Ramaswamy as "Rajguru", and called himself his "fan". He was nominated to the
Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
by the
President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...
, K. R. Narayanan. In the Rajya Sabha 12 MPs are nominated by the President of India from amongst persons who have special knowledge or practical experience in the fields of literature, science, art or social service. He served as a Rajya Sabha MP from November 1999 to November 2005. He remained the Sangh Parivar's political man in Chennai.


Partial filmography


As actor


Direction

# ''
Muhammad bin Tughluq Muhammad bin Tughluq (; ; 1290 – 20 March 1351), or Muhammad II, also named Jauna Khan as Crown Prince, further known by his epithets, The Eccentric Prince, or The Mad Sultan, was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from 4 February 1 ...
'' (1971) # '' Mr. Sampath'' (1972) # '' Yarukkum Vetkam Illai'' (1975) # '' Unmaiye Un Vilai Enna (1976)'' # ''Sambo Siva Samboo'' (1977)


Screenplay

# '' Thenmazhai'' (1966) # Ninaivil Nindraval (1967) # '' Manam Oru Kurangu'' (1967) # '' Neelagiri Express'' (1968) # ''
Bommalattam Bommalattam is a type of puppetry using inanimate objects from Tamil Nadu. While the origin of the art is uncertain, it has existed as an art form for years. It uses various doll marionettes, manipulated by rods and strings by puppeteers behind ...
'' (1968) # '' Aayiram Poi'' (1969) # '' Nirai Kudam'' (1969)


Other works


Plays


Bibliography

# ''Hindu Maha Samudram'' Vol – I, II, III, IV, V, and VI (Latest) # ''Mahabaratham Pesugirathu'' # ''Valmiki Ramayanam'' # ''Verukathagada Bramaniyam'' # ''Nane Raja''


Television

# '' Engey Brahmanan''? # ''Verukatthakkatha Brahmaneeyam''? # '' Sambavami Yuge Yuge'' # ''Vande Mataram'' # ''Ivargalai Therindhu Kollungal'' # ''Washington Il Nallathambi'' # ''Sarakar Pugunda Veedu'' # ''Koovam Nadikaraiyinile'' # ''Adhigaprasangam'' # ''Yaro Ivar Yaro''? # '' Saadhal Ellaiyel Kaadhal'' # ''Mydear BrahmaDeva'' # ''India Enge Pogiradhu''? # ''Kamarajarai Sandhitthen'' # ''Puratchi Geethai'' # ''Sattam Thalai Guniyattum'' # ''Enge Pogirai''? # ''Embak Kana Onru Kandaen'' # ''Saraswathiyin Selvan'' # ''Manam Oru Kurangu'' # ''En Koodathu''? # ''Eravil Chennai'' # ''Uravugal Ellaiyadi Pappa'' # ''Edarkaga''? # ''Thiraiyulagathai Thirumbi Parkiraen'' # ''Unmayae Unn Villai Ennae''? # '' Janatha Nagar Colony''


Satire

Following Sanjay Gandhi's death in an air crash, Cho released stamps in memory of Capt. Subhash Saxena, the pilot of the aircraft, who also died in the air crash. The postal departments failed to realise that these stamps were not official and mistakenly delivered mail that had them affixed.


Illness and death

Cho was hospitalized in January 2015 and was in and out of hospital due to illness. He died of a cardiac arrest at 3:58 AM on 7 December 2016, aged 82, at Apollo Hospital in
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, where he was receiving treatment for respiratory problems. He was survived by his wife, Soundaramba Ramaswamy, son Rajivakshan alias Sriram, and daughter Sindhu. His death happened a day after
Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016), popularly known as Amma, was an Indian actress, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. She ...
had died. Rajinikanth disclosed later that Jayalalithaa had always wished that Cho should live as long as she lived. He quoted: "As it turns out, he was alive till then and even few hours after that." K. Veeramani, leader of the
Dravidar Kazhagam Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by E. V. Ramasamy, 'Periyar' E. V. Ramasamy. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste and class system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a "Dra ...
and a self-confessed atheist, in his tributes to Cho, said he was a unique journalist with independent views.


References


External links

*
Audio of Cho Ramaswamy on Mrs Pratibha Patil, prior to the Indian Presidential elections where Mrs Patil was a candidate
(in Tamil), 13 July 2007.

thehindu.com, 2 June 2004.

TribuneIndia.com, 11 July 2004.

Rediff.com; accessed 28 January 2018.
Virtual Page
HarmonyIndia.org; accessed 28 January 2018.

tribuneindia.com; accessed 28 January 2018.
PM Visit
indianexpress.com; accessed 28 January 2018.
CM Visit
thehindu.com; accessed 28 January 2018.
Obituary
indiatimes.com; accessed 28 January 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramaswamy, Cho 1934 births 2016 deaths Tamil comedians Tamil Nadu politicians Tamil dramatists and playwrights Indian theatre directors Indian male stage actors Indian male journalists Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Indian male comedians Indian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male actors 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Male actors from Chennai Indian satirists Tamil screenwriters Tamil film directors Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Screenwriters from Chennai 20th-century Indian male writers Tamil television writers