Raju Srivastav is an Indian comedian, and more popularly, an observational comedian. He is known most for his acute scrutiny and comical timing about various Indian aspects of life like weddings, cinema, and even going to the market.
Raju was born on 25 December 1963, in Kanpur, India in a middle class Kyastha family. His father is a very famous poet, known as Balai kaka, who also does comedy shows in U.P. near by. Being a good mimic, Raju nursed the dream of becoming a comedian since childhood . In his school time he use to imitate his teachers.
He gained initial stardom as an Amitabh Bachchan look-alike and also imitated him very well. He landed in Mumbai, (then Bombay), and after few years did a blink-and-you-miss role in the superhit Rajsri movie Maine Pyar Kiya.
He did many other small roles in varied number of movies, mostly an inconspicuous comic role. Raju Srivastav, a talented artiste, with a flair for comedy, had done stage shows with Kalyanji Anandji, Bappi Lahiri and Nitin Mukesh in India and abroad.
He was also noticed by Johnny Lever when he used to do stage shows before joining the film industry. Raju’s mimicry was liked and applauded by the masses and he was an important person in Johnny Lever’s troupe.
His big break, however, was the comedy talent show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge. Although he didn't win the competition and only received a 2nd runner-up title, he followed that stint with some memorable stage performances in the spin-off, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge- Champions, where he was unofficially given the coveted title “The King of Comedy”. After that, he was noticed by many filmmakers and got regular assignments in movies with bigger roles. Raju has been an avid supporter of good comedy and criticized vulgarity.
