On Wednesday morning, India’s famous comedy king, Raju Srivastava, passed away. He was admitted to the hospital on August 10th after a cardiac arrest.
Renowned Indian comedian, actor, and politician Raju Srivastava passed away on Wednesday. At the age of 58, he took his last breath at 10.20 am at AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Science) in Delhi. He was undergoing treatment for 42 days.
He was admitted to AIIMS on August 10 after a cardiac arrest while working out in the gym. The funeral took place on September 22, yesterday, at 9:30 am.
Raju’s admirers prayed for him all over the world, but Raju has already said goodbye to everyone. Gajodhar Bhaiya and his masterful mimicry will live on in the memory of the fans.
Raju’s Background
He was born on 25 December 1963 at Kidwai Nagar in the Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. His original birth name was Satya Prakash Srivastava. In the year 1982, he came to Mumbai from Kanpur.
His Struggle for a career
Initially, he started driving a taxi. Later, he released his first audio jokes cassette ‘Hasna Mana Hai’ which gained a high amount of popularity. He is known for his political mimicry and has done impressions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lalu Prasad Yadav, and Mulayam Singh Yadav.
In an interview with a famous news channel, he said, “While others would make fun of my mimicry, my principal really supported me. I was also called to the mohalla (local) cricket matches for my commentary. I wouldn’t say much about the shots being played, but spoke about the players, as I knew them personally. That is what attracted people to my style,”
He did very well mimicry of veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan. He considered Mr. Bachchan his role model. The late comedian in an interview said (in Hindi), “I was very young when I started getting influenced by Amitabh Bachchan. I was a child, and I had made him my idol.
I was jobless and hungry when I came to Mumbai first. I got my first gig only because I could imitate his voice, say his famous dialogues. At the time, there weren’t many people who could mimic him well. I knew all his dialogues.”
Some Famous films
Raju Shrivastava played supporting roles in many Bollywood films like Tezaab (1988), Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Baazigar (1993), Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya (2001), Main Prem Ki Deewani Hu (2003), Bombay To Goa (2007), Big Brother (2007) and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017).
Television shows
He did his first television show for Doordarshan in 1994. He gained recognition in 2005 after participating in The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, which was broadcast on Star One. He became the second runner-up in this comedy show. After that, his other shows were Comedy Ka Maha Muqabala, Comedy Circus, and Comedy Nights with Kapil. He was recently seen as a special guest on India’s Laughter Champion.
Everyone loved his popular stage characters, Gajodhar Bhaiya and Manohar. In an interview, he revealed that his famous character, Gajodhar Bhaiya, was his childhood barber.
He participated in famous reality shows including Big Boss (2009) and Nach Baliye (2013-2014). He also appeared in Doordarshan’s famous fiction, Shaktimaan.
Awards won by Raju Srivastava
In 2014 Prime Minister Narendra Modi nominated him as a brand ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Uttar Pradesh
In 2016 he got the ‘Yash Bharti Award’ by the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
2017 – Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award
2020 – Award for one of the top 100 personalities of India
He also served as the chairman of the Film Development Council, Uttar Pradesh.
His Political Journey
Ace Comedian’s life journey did not only stop in films and television shows but also in the journey he took on another path, that is politics.
In 2013, he started his political career with Samajwadi Party (SP0. He got a ticket for the Kanpur Lok Sabha constituency for the 2014 general elections. But on 11 March 2014, he quit the SP but after 8 days, on 19th March, he joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Till now he was a member of the BJP only.
