Rajinikanth, Suriya pay last respects to Cho Ramaswamy

Chennai, Dec 7: Superstar Rajinikanth and actors Ajith and Suriya were among the first celebrities from Tamil filmdom to pay homage to well-known actor, playwright and political analyst Cho Ramaswamy, who breathed his last here on Wednesday.

Cho, 82, passed away due to cardiac arrest at Apollo Hospital on Wednesday early morning.

Actor Ajith Kumar, who had flown in from Bulgaria where he was shooting for his next yet-untitled film, paid his respects to J. Jayalalithaa at her memorial and then went and mourned the death of veteran actor Cho.

Speaking to reporters at Cho's residence, Rajinikanth said he had come to "offer my condolences and pay tribute".

"As a writer, Cho never compromised for anyone," he added. 

Actor Suriya, brother Karthi and their father Sivakumar had also paid their last respects to Cho, who had starred in over 75 Tamil films.

He's best known for working in films such as "Nirai Kudam", "Galatta Kalyanam", "Bommalattam" and "En Annan" among others.

Having adorned many hats apart from acting, Cho was also the founder and editor of Thuglak magazine, and a lawyer too. 

He was also a director and dialogue writer.

He had also directed five films which include the very popular Tamil political satire, "Mohammed Bin Thuglaka", apart from "Mr. Sampath" and "Sambo Siva Samboo".