Parinda of Atro-Chatro fame passes away

Bharat Khanna

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 5

Saroop Parinda (82), Atro of the famous Atro-Chatro duo that regaled the masses for decades with their imitable style of comedy died on Friday night and was cremated here this evening.

A passionate theatre performer from a very young age, Atro was widely appreciated for the dignity in which he carried Chachi persona in a woman’s attire. He was famously asked at several venues to go and sit among women performers and wait for his turn to perform on stage.

He had come a long way from earning Rs 5 as his first salary to having a road in Bathinda named after him. Parinda leaves behind his wife Kuldip Kaur and two sons, Rajinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh.

Parinda achieved instant stardom after he started playing the role of Atro which was conceptualised in 1987 when the actor duo were sitting with famous comedian Jaswinder Bhalla.

“We talked about life in general and suddenly came up with the popular characters of Atro -Chatro. We thought the names that would look good while talking about local issues and the names stuck to them,” he added. During his Chatro acted in 33 movies, including 25 in Punjabi. He was also an energetic bhangra performer.

Though Parinda played role of an addict and wine shop owner to perfection and applause, he was a teetotaler in real life.

Founder of Malwa Heritage and Culture Foundation Harvinder Singh Khalsa said, "It’s an irreparable loss.”