Raju Srivastava, ‘The King of Comedy’, passes away
22 Sep 2022 11:45:57
NEW DELHI,
POPULAR comedian Raju Srivastava, known for his earthy humour and inimitable delivery style, a household name in his delightful ‘Gajodhar Bhaiyya’ persona, breathed his last on Wednesday, September 21, aged 58.
The popular comedian battled for his life for 43 days.
Srivastava, who joined the BJP in 2014 after a stint with the Samajwadi Party, had a heart attack on August 10 while working out at a Delhi hotel. He was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) where he underwent an angioplasty procedure. He was on the ventilator since and never regained consciousness.
“I got a call in the morning saying he is no more. It is really unfortunate news. He had been waging a struggle for life in hospital for over 40 days,” his brother Dipoo Srivastava told PTI from Mumbai. The last rites will take place on Thursday morning here, his brother said.
Born on December 25, 1963, Satya Prakash Srivastava, who later became famous as Raju Srivastava, came from a middle-class family in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A gifted mimic, the comedy star had his share on initial struggles before attracting notice by mimicking megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s iconic baritone voice. That got him invited to stage shows both within and outside India.