CHENNAI: Thuglak, perhaps the first political satire magazine in Tamil, has an interesting story behind its birth. Cho had a Rs 5 bet with his friends that he would express his views by launching his own magazine.
In late 1960s, Cho was staging controversial dramas attracting ever larger numbers.
Once he was asked to address a meeting at Annamalai University and in that meeting, he had answered queries on subjects ranging from politics to economics to international affairs. After the event was over, Cho’s friends in a jovial manner asked him “what do you think of yourself – you should say decline answering questions on unfamiliar subjects”. To this, Cho said, “If I cannot answer such questions in meetings, I will express my views in my own newspaper.” His friends challenged him to do so on a wager of Rs 5.
Following this, Cho placed an ad in Tamil in a newspaper seeking people’s views on whether they would buy a magazine that aired his views. Around 10,000 responses said ‘okay’. After some initial hurdles, Ananda Vikatan’s managing director agreed to publish Cho’s magazine.