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Jest a minute

Tragedy fuels most of Raju Srivastav's comic lines

SPREADING CHEER Raju Srivastav

Two years ago, he lost the title of "Laughter Champion" on the reality show "The Great Indian Laughter Challenge", but today Raju Srivastav is sought after.

He has lived through failure, embarrassment and loneliness, before stumbling upon success. "I was an embarrassment to my family. While my peers and cousins would talk about exams, I would practice filmi dialogues." But the challenge lay in inventing his own style of stand-up comedy.

Raju took the everyday, chatty approach of relating an incident. "My humour comes from observing people, their mannerisms," he says. He gets most of his ideas while travelling by train. "Air travel has taken me away from the common man."

Raju is currently shooting for Sony TV's Comedy Ka Badsshah, Hasegaa India (Friday, 9 p.m.) and a show on Doordarshan. He is also seen in Laughter Champions ka Mahayudh on Star One. Though he looks for a comic streak in hardship, you can't always find a reason to laugh, he says.

SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY

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