RIP Raju Srivastav: Sonu Sood, Vivek Agnihotri, Rajpal Yadav and others mourn passing of noted comedian

The film and television industry are mourning the loss of popular comedian Raju Srivastav. The comedian, who shot to fame after enthralling fans in The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, passed away on Wednesday. Srivastav had been under treatment at AIIMS Delhi since suffering a cardiac arrest on August 10.

Bollywood and the entire television plunged into deep mourning after news of the comedian’s death broke out. Sonu Sood, Vivek Agnihotri, Divya Dutta, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Gupta and Madhur Bhandarkar were among the celebrities who expressed their grief at Srivastav’s passing. Agnihotri posted a video where he referred to Srivastav as a legend of laughter, and sent his condolences to the comedian’s family. “I have no words to describe this loss. You have left us all too soon. You will be missed my brother. I just can’t believe this”, wrote Yadav. Gupta wrote “Rest In Peace Raju. Thank you for all these years of fun and laughter”.

A number of celebrities from the television and music industries also offered their condolences on Srivastav’s death. Many prominent politicians, ministers as well as sportspersons also mourned the loss of Srivastav. Munmun Dutta of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah fame, singers Sukhbir Singh and Papon, Punjabi model and actress Himanshi Khurana, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit and comedian Vipul Goyal also expressed grief at Srivastav’s passing. Goyal shared a photograph of him and the late comedian together, and wrote “RIP LEGEND #rajusrivastava. Will always cherish this evening. Thanks for the entertainment and inspiring a generation of comedians”.

Shekhar Suman, who is a judge on India's Laughter Champion, also shared his grief at Srivastav’s passing. The former tweeted “Wat I was dreading for the past one month has happened.Raju Srivastava has left all of us for his heavenly abode.Devastated to hear the news.May God grant him eternal peace.#OmShanti (sic)”.

Srivastav is survived by his wife Shikha and children, Antara and Ayushman.