Comedian Raju Srivastava out of danger, organs functioning normally

Mumbai, Aug 21: Looks like millions of prayers are being answered as comedian Raju Srivastava is out of danger and even his organs are now functioning normally.

In the latest update, Shekhar Suman took to Twitter and wrote, "Today's update on Raju according to his family members..his organs are functioning normally. Though still unconscious, the doctor says, he is supposedly improving steadily. Mahadev ki Kripa.Har Har Mahadev (sic)."

Earlier today, Raju's wife Shikha told news agency PTI that her husband is stable and is being treated well. "He is stable. Doctors are treating him well. Raju ji is a fighter and he will come back to be amongst all of us. We need your prayers and wishes," she said.

For the unversed, Raju Srivastava suffered a heart attack on August 9 following which he was rushed to the AIIMS hospital in Delhi.

The comic had a heart attack while exercising at a hotel's gym here.

He gained initial stardom as an Amitabh Bachchan look-alike and also imitated him very well. He landed in Mumbai (then Bombay), and after a few years did a blink-and-you-miss role in the superhit Rajshri movie Maine Pyar Kiya. He did many other small roles in a varied number of movies, mostly an inconspicuous comic roles.

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 1st 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.