Cho Ramaswamy, political satirist, editor, comedian, playwright passes away

Who can be an actor, a journalist, a satirist, a comedian, a playwright, an editor, a filmwriter, a director, a politician and a pundit, all at once? Only Cho can.

Originally known as Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy, he was fondly addressed and remembered as Cho. Born in a Brahmin family of lawyers, he began assisting his father and grandfather at their law firm which soon turned into a busy practice near the Madras High Court. But theater remained his true passion.

Cho was well known for his play Mohammed bin Tughlaq, a seminal work that was first staged in 1968. Many believe it portrayed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s ‘autocratic’ rule. The success of this play led Cho to launch the famous Tamil magazine, Tughlaq in 1970.