Comedian-actor Raju Srivastava breathed his last breath at the age of 58, on Wednesday at AIIMS Delhi, after being admitted there following a heart attack on August 10.
Raju, who received widespread recognition after participating in the first season of the stand-up comedy show ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’ in 2005, was part of the Indian entertainment industry since the late 1980s. Born Satya Prakash Srivastava on December 25, 1963, to a middle-class family in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, his father, Ramesh Chandra Srivastava was a poet known as Balai Kaka. Since his childhood, Raju was fond of doing mimicry, which is why he wanted to be a comedian.
After completing his early studies in Kanpur, Raju shifted to Mumbai with the dream of becoming a comedian. He started his career by doing small roles in Bollywood films.
The first part he played was in the 1998 film ‘Tezaab’, which was followed by the 1989 Salman Khan starrer ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’ and ‘Baazigar’ in 1993. Apart from these, he also worked in ‘Aamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiyaa’, ‘Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon’, ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Bombay to Goa’ among several other films.
On July 1, 1993, Raju married Shikha from Lucknow and the duo had two children, Antara and Ayushman. (ANI)
