Comedian Raju Srivastav's death left a void in the hearts of his fans and family members. He suffered a heart attack in August 2022 and succumbed to it after undergoing treatment for a while. Raju was declared 'brain dead' and was on a ventilator days before he died in the hospital in September. His family and close friends cremated him in Mumbai. Raju Srivastav's daughter Antara recently revealed that she thought it was a mix-up when she first heard about the comedian's heart attack. Antara told TOI that she thought it was her uncle who suffered a heart attack.
Antara told TOI, "I thought that my chachu (uncle) had suffered a heart attack on August 10, 2022, when my mom called me with this information. I felt there was a mix-up. My chachu's name is Kaju and in fact, he was very much admitted to AIIMS in Delhi (owing to accumulation of fluid in his brain) when my father met with a heart attack. In fact, my dad had also made quite a few of his stay arrangements. In fact, my chachu was slated to get operated on the same day. And, my dad had been shuttling in and out of the hospital, attending to him- and I thought the news of my father's heart attack was a rumour."
Antara also revealed that when Raju Srivastav was in the hospital, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan constantly kept in touch and asked about his health. Antara revealed, " I must tell you that there is one man who enquired about my Dad's health every single day when he was hospitalized. And that's Amitabh Bachchan. That's a very big thing. My Dad idolized him and he became what he was because of Mr Bachchan. This all gave us a lot of strength."
Raju Srivastav's daughter also recalled her last conversation with him and said that the comedian had celebrated her birthday with her. She said that Raju told them jokes that he cracked while shooting for Laughter Champions a few days ago and left for a tour soon after her birthday. She said, "Life never tells you that this is going to be the last time. He was out of town for the last 10 days. A day after my birthday, he had shot for Laughter Champion. We celebrated my birthday and he shared the kind of jokes he'd cracked there. A few days after that, he left for outstation. He often went for tours."
Comedian Raju Srivastav is survived by wife Shikha, daughter Antara and son Ayushman. While Antara plans to be a director or producer in showbiz, Ayushman is learning sitar from Pandit Niladri Kumar. He performs with Kailash Kher's bands.
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