Raju Srivastav


Raju Srivastava, often credited as Gajodhar, is an Indian comedian.

Early life

Raju Srivastava was born on 25 December 1963, in Kanpur, India in a middle class family. His father, Ramesh Chandra Srivastava, was a poet known as Balai Kaka. Being a good mimic, Raju wanted to become a comedian since childhood.

Career

Srivastav has performed in stage shows in India and abroad. He also launched a series of audio cassettes and video CDs. He gained initial notice as an Amitabh Bachchan look-alike.
He started his career by doing small roles in Bollywood films. He had a part in the Rajshri Productions movie Maine Pyar Kiya and other small roles in various movies such as Baazigar and Bombay to Goa. He worked as an actor and comedian in the Bollywood movie Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya.
He ventured into stand-up comedy with the talent show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and finished as second runner-up, subsequently taking part in the spin-off, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge - Champions, in which he won the title of "The King of Comedy".
Srivastav also participated in Bigg Boss , the Indian counterpart of the Big Brother . After staying in the house for more than two months he was voted out on December 4, 2009. He later participated in the comedy show Comedy Ka Maha Muqabala. In 2013, Raju along with his wife participated in Nach Baliye season 6, which is a couples dance show on StarPlus. He has also appeared on Comedy Nights with Kapil.
He also appeared in a show called Mazaak Mazaak Mein a.k.a. 'The Indian Mazaak League'. It was a stand-up comedy show which aired on Life OK. Popular cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Shoaib Akhtar were the judges of the show.

Political career

The Samajwadi Party fielded Srivastava from Kanpur for the 2014 Lok Sabha election. But on 11 March 2014, Srivastava returned the ticket, saying he was not getting enough support from the local units of the party. After that, he joined Bhartiya Janta Party on 19 March 2014.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi nominated him to be part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Since then he has been promoting cleanliness through his events in different cities. He has made various music videos for promoting cleanliness. He has also shot various TV commercials and social service message video for Swacha Bharat Abhiyaan.

Personal life

Srivastav married Shikha from Lucknow on 1 July 1993. Together they have two children, Antara and Ayushman. In 2010, Srivastav received threatening calls from Pakistan warning him not to crack jokes on underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Pakistan during his shows.

Filmography

Cinema

TV Series