22 years ago, this sketch character should never have entered the cinema doors! After 4 million records, it became a legend

On March 19, 2003, Chochu appeared on French screens and the public responded! The comedy directed by Gad Elmaleh attracted 3.8 million viewers, which is a real triumph. Chouchou then becomes a phenomenon and fans sing his lines like a celebrity “I love sushi!” Gad Elmaleh was nominated for a César for Best Actor in 2004 for his performance.

But the bet was risky for just… a sketch-based piece! Indeed, the character of Chouhu was born from Gad Elmaleh’s imagination, inspired one day by a vision of a hairdresser transvestite walking around Pigalle and speaking with an accent that was feminine and North African.

He is a cute and funny character

From this unlikely encounter, the idea of ​​Chochuu as a fragile and colorful figure emerges. Gad brings it to life in his one-man show Normal Life, where he plays a transvestite in the depths of the Depression “who works in Place Clichy”. The sketch quickly became an iconic moment of the show, adored by the public and systematically requested during its encore.

Gad Elmaleh has always had great fun portraying this flamboyant and caricatural character, a true trademark of the comedian. After that, Chouchu remained a fictional role for sketches and was not really destined to become a movie hero.

It was director Merzak Aluache, a close friend of Gad Elmaleh, who encouraged the comedian to give new life to Chouhu by bringing it from the stage to the lights of the big screen, a project that Gad had already been pursuing in secret.

Fascinated by this prospect, the two accomplices begin a veritable creative frenzy. They first throw out their ideas, and then slowly build the framework of the script.

A losing favorite in Paris

So the story introduces Chochu, a young North African with a big heart. He secretly arrives in Paris on a sacred mission: to find his nephew lost in the urban jungle. Fortunately, fate (and a bit of providence) puts him in the path of Father Leon and Brother Jean, a duo of big-hearted religious men who welcome him to their suburban parish.

Choucho takes on an incredible job there: cleaning man for psychoanalyst Dr. Nicole Milovavic, where he discovers the joy of cleaning… and listening attentively. But his family’s quest quickly takes over. Direction Cliché, where he finally finds his nephew, now Vanessa, a romantic singer at the L’Apocalypse cabaret.

The atmosphere, the sequins and the stiletto heels take effect quickly: Choucho gives in to the temptation and becomes a “waiter” at night in his spare time. It is there that he meets Stanislaus, an elegant and somewhat frustrated forty-year-old girl whose heart beats faster than her heels on the polished floor.

But every fairy tale has its grain of sand: Inspector Grégoire, patient (and obsessed) of Dr. Milovavic, discovers Chouhu’s double life… and feels like he’s finally on to something.

Thanks to this film, Gad Elmaleh will plant a seed in the minds of other comedians who will also make the leap to the big screen. Thus Jean Dujardin adapts his Brice de Nice in 2005; Eli Semun will do the same with his Cyprien (2009).

As for Gad, he’ll be doubling down on the stakes in 2009 with Coco, another iconic character from Sketch of Ordinary Life. There will also be success with 3 million entries.

Despite its success, Gad Elmaleh has no plans to resurrect Chouchou for a theatrical sequel: “I don’t even know if we’ll be able to do Chouchou today. I won’t repeat it because it’s true, I did it, he was a strong character, but I think I’ll have to make up for it by approaching him today.”he said at the RTL microphone in October 2024.