Raju Srivastav Birth Anniversary: Interesting Facts About the King of Comedy

Raju Srivastav has left an indelible mark in the world of Hindi comedy. The way Srivastav depicted the comical antics of people and played out the Gajodhar Bhaiya character endeared his style of stand-up to one and all. From acting in Shaktimaan to dancing in Nach Baliye to navigating through Bigg Boss, Raju Srivastav had a broad canvas right from the get-go.

While his onscreen presence made people laugh out loud, his sudden demise due to a heart attack earlier this year left many in tears.

On his birth anniversary, here are top 10 lesser known facts about the King of Comedy:

1. Raju Srivastav’s real name was Satya Prakash Srivastav. He was born and brought up in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur. It is from here that he drew inspiration for many small-town characters.
2. Srivastav drove a rickshaw during his early struggle in Mumbai to make ends meet. He also performed in small stand-up shows for as little as Rs 50.
3. While many know that Raju Srivastav was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, not many know that he was actually first given a ticket by the Samajwadi Party.
4. Srivastav made a cameo in Ronit Roy-starring TV series Adaalat as Raju Chaurasia.
5. He served as the chairman of the Film Development Council of Uttar Pradesh. In this capacity, the comedian worked tirelessly to set up the Noida Film City.
6. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was once Srivastav’s rival in the comedy world. The two went from being rivals in comedy to joining rival political parties.
7. Apart from performing on TV shows and video platforms, he wrote regularly for Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar’s “Hasyarang” section.
8. According to his neighbours, the celebrity was so attached to his ancestral home in Kanpur that after his father sold it in 1990, he laboured to buy it back in 2000. He would always visit this home whenever he came back to the city.
9. In his true comedian spirit, Srivastav once entertained close to 150 people that were travelling in the same plane as him when the flight got delayed by an hour.
10. Following his death, Lucknow’s mayor Sanyukta Bhatia announced that the E-block crossing in Rajajipuram will be named after him. Srivastav’s in-laws lived here, making Lucknow his second home after Kanpur.