Celebrated comedian-actor Raju Srivastava passed away at the age of 58 on Wednesday, 40 days after he suffered a cardiac arrest at his gym and was hospitalised in AIIMS.
The comedian, popularly known as Gajodhar bhaiya, was loved and adored by everyone for his unique way of representing day-to-day stories with a local touch from the rural areas. Apart from standup comedy, Srivastava starred in various films and was briefly seen in the reality show Big Boss.
As the comedian leaves the world at 58, the standup world of Delhi bids farewell to the legend.
Also read: Raju Srivastava passes away after 41 days of hospitalisation: Condolences pour in for the Comedy Lord
“I have learned so much from Raju Sir,” says Laxmi Nagar stand-up comedian Vishwa Chauhan.
“He has a legacy that is going to last forever in the world of stand-up comedy. It was fascinating how he used to present simple, everyday, ordinary stories in an extraordinary way. He was the pioneer in stand-up comedy. Before him, stand up comedy was just limited to films, and that too, in a stereotypical manner. Srivastava, Sir, expanded the horizons for all of us,” he says.
Chauhan also harped on the need for exercising restraint and rest rather than “making unwarranted demands from your body in order to flaunt a certain standard”. “It is getting more and more prevalent, and what we’re doing is ignoring the consequences of these decisions,” he adds.
Another standup comedian from Delhi, Mahima, pays tribute to her idol and says, “I remember watching his videos and learning a lot from them.” Raju Sir had a way of storytelling that made him relevant to every generation and social background, which isn’t possible these days.”
She says that his ethics are what today’s generation of standup comedians “should learn from”. “He never once made fun of his audience to make others laugh, which is quite common these days in the name of crowd work. It is very sad that such a great artist has left us so early but I hope he finds peace wherever he is,” she says.
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