Cho's Show



During the campaign in the film Manidhan, Cho says "Put your votes into the Well", as the contesting party's symbol is indeed a well.

In the film Puthiya Theerpu, as a continuation to his line on advicing people, Cho says pointing at Janakaraj, "If I say something, this fellow repeats Sommari, Chomari, Cho Mari".

Cho Ramaswamy features in my favourite film Adhisiya Piravi, in which the one liners and counters are so spontenous (ofcoarse they have its own share of bitter truth concealed within, concerning the poticial suituation of the said period). It is particularly his character Vichitra Gupta which converts the remake into a stand alone feature, where the adaptation was well done keeping in mind the adressed audience group.

During my childhood (and even presently), I read a lot of comics (a huge fan of Indrajal / Raj comics) and then, I never fail to go through Thuglak for its awesome caricatures. I recollect the evening I used to sit with my grandmother and laugh at the cartoons illustrated in the weekly Tamil magazine, eventhough I never minded its political contents. I am not much experienced to talk about Thuglak, but for me, Thuglak will remain one of the best cartoons of real life personages, the magzine's founder/editor Cho Ramaswamy since Pongal 1970. I often used to wonder how Cho gets a particular feauture of a person and exploits them in his cartoon, be it a nose or lips or even ears. It looks funny, at the same time sheds away the seriousness in the sense, while retaining a huge impact.

As a artist, Cho delivers his dialogues with firmity and uses the given time aptly on screen. He is a wonder while using Chennai Slang (Madras Bashai) and a kind of Robin Hood on screen to potray the current affairs and talk about the condition of the (political & social) system of the taken period. He boldly adresses them, creating an illusions of truth inside humour. His lampoonery potrayals of any hard news with witticism will always remain unique. He ridicules the concerned to expose truth, and as far as I am aware of, none have taken them dissimilarly but consulted with him seeking for appropriate measures. And he was there for them too with his expertise as a free thinker.

And as a writer/reader he is a huge inspiration (for myself). He is a great speaker too, where he induces hillarious lines to introduce to a pathetic problem roaming around. In Valli 1000, he tackles on stage the matters of old age jovially, which I consider as absolute and a major eye opener for any generation, esp., for those who are prepared to listen.

Spontaneity, brevity, boldness, presence of mind and inteligence will forever have a synonym called Cho Ramaswamy.



Srinivasa Iyer (5 October 1934 – 7 December 2016) - Wits & Wiles.