Raju Srivastava (English: Raju Srivastav, born- 24 December 1963; died- 21 September 2022) was a famous comedian of India. He played important roles in many English films as well as comedy programs on TV. The comedy program ‘Laughter Challenge’ on the small screen made Raju Srivastava a household name. Raju Srivastava was mainly known for satirizing the common man and small everyday incidents. Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav fielded Raju Srivastava from Kanpur Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. However, later on 11 March 2014, Raju Srivastava returned the ticket and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 19 March 2014.
Raju Srivastava was born on 24 December 1963 in Kanpur, a popular district of Uttar Pradesh. He had a simple small middle-class family. Raju Srivastava’s father Ramesh Chandra Srivastava was a simple businessman in Kanpur. His mother’s name is Saraswati Srivastava. He has no sister, but has an elder brother named Deepu Srivastava. Raju Srivastava is married to Shikha Srivastava. They have two children, son’s name is Ayushman Srivastava and daughter’s name is Antara Srivastava.[1]
Raju belonged to a very ordinary family. He was fond of becoming an artist and working in films since childhood. Due to which, after completing his primary education, he came to Mumbai. In Mumbai, Raju Srivastava gained fame by mimicking Amitabh Bachchan and started working in theatre. After this, he worked in different comedy shows. He gained fame across India when he worked in ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’. In this show, he satirized the small problems faced by the common man in his life. After which Raju Srivastava became a popular comedian in every household. Gradually, he also worked as a comedian in many Bollywood films and during the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, his name was nominated to popularize the Swachh Bharat movement across India.
Raju Srivastava’s career was full of ups and downs. He started his career with very small jobs, but gradually became popular all over India due to his art. Raju Srivastava started his career with mimicry, where he used to mimic Amitabh Bachchan in different theaters. After this, he participated in different comedy shows. He was rejected in the auditions of some and lost in some shows. But he worked in India’s most popular serials, which include ‘Great Indian Laughter Challenge’, ‘Comedy Ka Mahakumbh’, ‘Comedy Circus’, ‘Shaktimaan’ and ‘Bigg Boss.
When Raju Srivastava tried his luck in ‘Great Indian Laughter Challenge’, his satire on common man made his name popular in every common man’s house in India. After this, Raju Srivastava started organizing his comedy shows at different places. People used to call him for comedy. Raju Srivastava gradually became so popular that he started his Bollywood career with Anil Kapoor’s film ‘Tezaab’ in 1988. During this time, he worked as a comedian in many Bollywood films and gained a lot of fame with films like ‘Journey Bombay to Goa’, ‘Aamdani Athanni’.[1]
Finally, moving towards politics, he got a chance to contest elections from Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party in 2014, but he left this party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on March 11, 2014. Then Prime Minister Narendra Modi nominated him to take charge of the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ campaign.
Famous comedian and actor Raju Srivastava died on 21 September 2022 at AIIMS, Delhi. On 10 August 2022, Raju Srivastava had a problem of heart blockage. He died during 41 days of treatment in the hospital.
