Joseph Panimayadas Chandrababu Rodriguez (1927–1974) was an Indian actor, comedian, playback singer and film director.
His father, a freedom fighter, ran a paper called Sudhandhira Veeran which, along with the family assets, was seized by the British government in 1929 when he was arrested for participating in the satyagraha movement.
He and the family were exiled to Colombo, Sri Lanka on his release, where his father worked for a Tamil newspaper.
He made his debut with a small role in the 1947 film Dhana Amaravathi[2] but struggled thereafter to obtain parts.
[2] Chandrababu loved western music and learned the art of yodelling by listening to singers such as Gene Autry and Hank Williams.
In Chinna Durai, produced and directed by T. R. Mahalingam, he sang the song Poda Raja Podi Nadaya, the first time that yodelling had been heard in a South Indian film.
[2] When A. V. Meiyappan filmed Sahodhari, he found that it lacked an ingredient that would ensure box office success.
He learned this dialect from the rickshaw pullers and street vendors near his home in Triplicane and later in Mir Sahib Pet.
Sabaash Meena was one of the best Tamil comedy movies of its time, in which Chandrababu acted with Sivaji Ganesan, in dual roles.
Chandrababu first met Sheila, an Anglo Indian and grand daughter of Coimbatore-based filmmaker Swamikannu Vincent[3] at her residence and subsequently marriage was arranged in 1958.
Chandrababu had arranged with a financier, to direct his first film Maadi Veettu Ezhai with M. G. Ramachandran as the hero.
The reasons for Ramachandran's non-cooperation is well explained by script writer Aroordhas, in his 2002 memoirs Naan Muham Paartha Cinema Kannadigal.
Chandrababu's final attempt was to direct and act in Thattungal Thirakkappadum in 1966; it was highly acclaimed for its cinematography but was not a box office success.