The Comic Who Found Humour In Everyday Life

The first brush of fame came as an Amitabh Bachchan look alike, but Raju Srivastav soon grew out of that shadow to carve an identity all his own as a stand-up comic and sometime actor who kept the laughs rolling in.

- 

Srivastav, who died on Wednesday after more than 40 days in Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, was only 58.

It was a life well lived, his career in comedy segueing into politics over the last eight years with him joining the Samajwadi Party and then the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The boy from Kanpur kept his audiences in theatres, on television and lately on social media platforms engaged with vivid societal sketches, be it about travelling in Mumbai's famous locals or lampooning queues at wedding buffets.

Srivastava whose career predated And then in 2005, it all changed. the current comedy club culture, was first noticed for his resemblance to Bachchan and then gradually attained popularity as a mimicry artist impersonating the superstar as well as politicians such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Different from the stand-up artists of today who are more satirical in their approach, Srivastav's humour -- always in Hindi -- made him hugely popular across the spectrum.

He played nameless bit parts in films such as Tezaab (1988), Maine Pyaar Kiya (1989), and Baazigar (1993).

He launched a series of audio cassettes and video CDs and had a role in the popular 1990s Doordarshan superhero show Shaktimaan.

That's when Srivastava was catapulted to fame with his setpieces in the first season of the stand-up comedy show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge.

The kind of familiar face in the comedy and cinema circuit suddenly became a household name.

His sharp humour played out through his alter ego Gajodhar bhaiya, the lazy common man who had his finger on the pulse of the people.