Chennai, Oct 2 : One of Tamil cinema's popular comedians, actor Chaams, on Thursday announced that he had officially changed his name to 'Java Sunderasan', which happens to be the name of a character he portrayed in the hit Tamil film 'Arai En 305il Kadavul'.

The well known Tamil film actor, whose original name is Swaminathan, announced his new name on the auspicious occasion of Vijayadasami. He announced his new name through a video clip that was sent to mediapersons.

Chaams said, "I am happy to share the news of my name change with you all on this auspicious occasion of Vijayadasami. My original name is Swaminathan and I came to the film industry with this name. However, I wanted to stand out and be noticed and therefore changed my name to Chaams. It is with this name that I have acted in over 230 films so far."

The actor further went on to say, "However, I did a character called Java Sundaresan in director Chimbu Devan's 'Arai En 305il Kadavul'. This character became immensely popular among the masses so much so that fans have started to address me by this name instead of my screen name which is Chaams. Therefore, after much thought, I approached director Chimbu Devan, who created this character in the film, and formally took permission from him to use the character's name as my name. So, from today, I have decided to change my name from Chaams to Java Sundaresan."

The actor, on the occasion, also expressed his heartfelt thanks to director Chimbu Devan for giving him such a character and name. He also thanked ace director Shankar, who was the producer of the film.

"I also take this opportunity to thank all the directors and producers who gave me an opportunity to make people laugh," the actor said, even as he expressed his gratitude to mediapersons for their support.

Lastly, the actor also thanked meme creators, who, he said, had poured their creativity into using the character in memes.

/IANS