King of comedy Raju Srivastav departs
HYDERABAD: It’s hard to make someone giggle or laugh or even to crack jokes to make one smile. But for a few talented people it is just a cakewalk to make people around them laugh, not only by their comedy timing but their body language as well. Raju Srivastav or Satya Prakash Srivastava, often credited as Gajodhar, was one such person. He made the audience laugh out loud with his observational comedy and timeless jokes which brought him immense popularity on stage and in movies. As he leaves behind a huge gap in the comedy genre, stand-up comedians from the city recollect their cherished memories of his shows that they watched growing up.
‘I am glad I watched his live show’
“Not all of us had access to YouTube back then. So, the idea of stand up comedy started by watching it on TV. And I was watching them and thinking how do I do this for the rest of my life. That is when it kicked up. I think when I was three or four years into stand-up that he was visiting Hyderabad and so I went to watch his show. We have seen a lot of modern day comics but none of their shows had a half time break.
He had a half time break and after that he would come back and the next one hour was a request hour where people would request the bits that they had watched on TV and ask him to do it. That is just unique and that shows he had a unique place in India’s stand up comedy genre. I remember watching his show live and he is the first comic I am glad I caught him doing. It is sad that it has happened and it would be great to see those two worlds of comedy integrate, but sadly we won’t be able to do that anymore.”
– Bhavneet Singh
‘He was gifted with great observational skills’
“He was one of the people who was at their peak when we started watching comedy. The first comedian was Johnny Lever and then it was Raju Srivastav. I think if someone took the country by storm that was Raju Srivastav. We used to see him in Laughter Challenge and so many other shows. Not only me, but every other comedian who has binge watched him during the 90’s were inspired by him. He is just another level. When we used to watch him on TV, I still remember going to school and talking about his jokes with friends. The jokes were so good and the observations were top notch.
I rarely remember people doing so and that is one memory which I will never forget. Even at normal parties, I still remember my parents talking to their friends about his show. It was everywhere and a huge part of pop culture. I think as I took up stand-up comedy, one of the inspirations was Raju Sir. And when I started stand-up comedy I realised how difficult observational comedy is. I do it now at some level and when I compare it with him I think his was something that is top notch, he was gifted with this skill.” –Rohit Swain
‘His comedy is still very relevant’
“I have been following Raju Srivastav since Laughter Challenge and he stood out in the show. He was the only one who did not do mimicry, but did more than mimicry. He did some of the very original thoughts which I never saw. Even today I watched the same videos of him after seeing the news and I was still laughing and that means he was that good. Some of his comedy is still very relevant.”
– Sandesh Jonny