Thank you for the laughs, Gajodhar bhaiyya

In 2005 the Indian audience realised two things mdash standup comedy made for an entertaining television offering and that some of the most hilarious stories could come from a barber As The Great Indian Laughter Challenge opened its maiden season Kanpurborn Raju Srivastava took to the stage to tell us tales as Gajodhar bhaiyya a fictional character said to be inspired by a barber from his hometown By the time the season ended Srivastavarsquos dream run had begun Over the past 17 years he became one of the biggest names in standup comedyRaju Srivastava flanked by Sunil Pal and Ahsaan QureshiFor Ahsaan Qureshi the artiste mdash who breathed his last on Wednesday morning after battling for his life in AIIMS Delhi over the past 41 days mdash will always be the man who knew how to ldquoturn a frown into a smilerdquo Qureshi who was declared the first runnerup to Srivastavarsquos second runnerup on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge remembers their first meeting ldquoAbout 12 of us were in the semifinals I remember Raju called me over for tea after he learnt that I came from a small town in Madhya Pradesh When I went over his house was filled with people Since Rajursquos father was a great poet his family loved me and my poetic style of comedyrdquo Qureshi notes that Srivastavarsquos style of comedy was unique He had a knack for breathing life into inanimate objectsAlso ReadExclusive Sugandha Mishra I had been on a two month long world tour with Raju SrivastavaWhat does the sofa feel Mujhe bhi saans lena hai thoda khade ho jaao This was something only Raju Srivastavaji could do He started his struggle when one could not afford to even get a landline at home He used to collect coins to make calls from the telephone booth Then came a phase when he would mimic Amitabh Bachchan which increased his popularityrdquo Qureshi recounts The duo had met two months ago for an event ldquoAt the time we discussed making a film by bringing together several comedians as we did with Bombay to Goa 2007 We decided to flesh out the story at the next meeting but that never happenedrdquo Qureshi adds that he will fulfill the late comedianrsquos dream by making the filmRaju Srivastava and Sugandhaa S Misshra right Ravi KishanComedienne Sugandhaa S Misshra known for imitating the late Lata Mangeshkar in her musical comedies remembers meeting Srivastava after she finished the fourth season of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge ldquoI was hesitant about approaching him However he saw me at a press conference and approached me He appreciated the musical comedy elements in my actsrdquo It was during a twomonth US tour in 2016 that the duo grew close ldquoNo matter what the situation he was always gungho about his performance I remember right before our performance the hotel we were staying at ran out of waterWhile we were running helterskelter figuring out what to do we saw Rajuji taking a dip in the pool He said he didnrsquot need water as he had already taken a bath in the pool He always knew how to turn the tide in his favourrdquo Her favourite character she says is Gajodhar bhaiyya ldquoGajodhar was a personality so far removed from Rajuji It was one of his best charactersrdquo she addsMourning his demise coactor and friend Ravi Kishan feels like he ldquolost a brother todayrdquo ldquoWe both come from small towns in Uttar Pradesh and had known each other for the last 30 years We started our struggle together and became successful togetherrdquo Kishan says that the late comedian always looked out for his peers and believed in giving back to society ldquoAs a member of the BJP Rajuji took the initiative to get subsidies for film units when they shot in Uttar Pradesh A few months ago we shared the same platform at the Kashi Film Festival We stayed at the same hotel for a few days and reminisced about our past I never thought he would leave us so soonrdquoAlso ReadExclusive Krushna Abhishek I worked on Raju Srivastavas film as an assistant when I was 18 year oldSrivastavarsquos journey in showbizA still from Shaktimaangtgt Born Satya Prakash Srivastava he shifted from Kanpur to Mumbai in the late rsquo80s and began his career with blinkandmiss roles in Tezaab 1988 Maine Pyaar Kiya 1989 and Baazigar 1993gtgt He appeared in Doordarshanrsquos Tea Time Manoranjan following it up with Shaktimaan 19982005 where he played the character of Dhurandhar Singhgtgt In 2005 Srivastava became a household name with his standup comedy act in the maiden season of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge He emerged as the second runnerup while Sunil Pal and Ahsaan Qureshi were adjudged the winner and first runnerup respectivelygtgt He went on to join Indian comics Pal Qureshi and Asrani to lead the 2007 comedy Bombay to Goagtgt By 2009 the standup comic was so busy that he considered turning down Bigg Boss He apparently agreed to participate in the reality show after he learnt that his idol Amitabh Bachchan was the hostgtgt Besides showing his comic flair on Comedy Circus between 2007 and 2014 he put on his dancing shoes for Nach Baliye 6gtgt He joined forces with Kapil Sharma playing various comic characters on Comedy Nights with Kapil and The Kapil Sharma Showgtgt The comedian joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014gtgt In 2017 he returned to The Great Indian Laughter Challenge as a special guest