Raju Srivastav

Raju Srivastava

Raju Srivastav during an event
Birth name Satya Prakash Srivastava
Born (1963-12-25) 25 December 1963
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Genres Observational comedy
Spouse Shikha Srivastava
Children Antara Srivastava, Aayushmaan Srivastava
Notable works and roles Standup Comedy on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge

Raju Srivastava (born Satya Prakash Srivastava on 25 December 1963), often credited as Gajodhar or Raju Shrivastav, is one of the most popular comedians in India. He is best known for his observational comedy about various instances in daily life. He revealed in a podcast that he is related to actor Amitabh Bachchan through a common relative.

Early life

Raju Srivastava was born on 25 December 1963, in Kanpur, India in a middle class Kayastha family. His father was a very famous poet, Mr. Ramesh Chandra Srivastava known as Balai Kaka. Being a good mimic, Raju nursed the dream of becoming a comedian since childhood. In his school time he used to imitate his teachers. He gained stardom as a versatile comedian.

Career

Srivastav has performed in thousands of stage shows in India and abroad. He also launched a series of his audio cassettes and video CDs. He gained initial stardom as an Amitabh Bachchan look-alike and also imitated him very well.

He started his career by doing small roles in Bollywood films. He landed in Mumbai (then Bombay), and after a few years did a blink-and-you-miss role in the superhit Rajshri movie Maine Pyar Kiya. He did many other small roles in various movies such as Bazigar & Bombay to Goa, mostly an inconspicuous comic role. He was starting to be recognised for his work as an actor cum comedian with Bollywood movie Aamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiyaa.

He got his big break with the comedy talent show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge. He finished as second runner-up and then took part in the spin-off, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge - Champions, in which he won the title of "The King of Comedy" from where his journey as a stand-up comedian started.

After that, he was noticed by many filmmakers and got regular assignments in movies with bigger roles. Raju has been an avid supporter of good comedy and criticized vulgarity.

He participated in Big Boss - 3, Indian counterpart of the Big Brother. After staying in the house for more than two months he was voted out on December 4, 2009. He wanted Vindu Dara Singh to win Bigg Boss season 3 as he thinks Vindu is good at heart.

He has participated in the comedy show Comedy Ka Maha Muqabla.[1] In 2013, Raju along with his wife participated in Nach Baliye 6 which is a dance couple show on Star Plus. He also appeared on Comedy Nights with Kapil.

He also appeared in a show called Mazaak Mazaak Mein a.k.a. 'The Indian Mazaak League'. It was a stand up comedy show which aired on Life Ok. The show is produced by Balaji Telefilms of Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor. Popular cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Shoaib Akhtar were seen as the judges of the show.

Political career

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party fielded Srivastava from Kanpur in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.[2] But on 11 March 2014, Srivastava returned the ticket, saying he was not getting enough support from the local units of the party.[3][4] After that he joined Bhartiya Janta Party on 19 March 2014.[5][6][7]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi nominated him to be part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Since then he has been promoting cleanliness through his events in different cities. He has made various music videos for promoting cleanliness. He has also shot various TV commercials and social service message videos for Swacha Bharat Abhiyaan.

Personal life

He is married to Shikha Srivastava and has two children named Antara Srivastava & Aayushmaan Srivastava. Shikha is a homemaker. Raju along with his wife Shikha participated in Nach Baliye 6 which is an dance couple show on Star Plus. Show did really well. They both entertained the audience with their chemistry in dance and comedy.

Raju's daughter, Antra Srivastava got National Bravery Award from that time prime minister Dr.Manmohan Singh and President Dr.A.P.J Abdul Kalam. Antara is an upcoming actress, currently she is shooting for a film called Vodka Diaries. it is being directed by Kushal Srivastava who is nephew of Raju Srivastava.

Raju Srivastav received threatening calls from Pakistan warning him not to crack jokes on underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Pakistan during his shows.[8]

Filmography

Cinema
Television

References

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