HASNA UTNA HI ZARRORI HAIN JITNA JEENE KE LIYE SAANS LENA ZARRORI HAIN, SOCIAL MEDIA ZAKM BHI DETA HAIN, ZAKM BHI LETA HAIN AUR YEH ZINDAGI KI ZARRORAT BHI HAIN... BY - ALI PETER JOHN

Have we forgotten how to laugh, and don't we know that laughter is one of the great gifts on God has blessed us with ..? If we have not , then why don't we see more people laughing these days? I know it is very difficult to laugh especially in these days of the pandemic, but we can certainly find occasions and moments in life when we can laugh because if we forgot how to laugh, we will forgot how to make the best use of this life it will never come back again, Zindagi na milegi dobara..? - ALI PETER JOHN

These days even hindi films don't have the kind of comedian who used to be an essential part of every film. Where do we have comedians like Johnny Walker, Mahmood, Shubha Khote and even Rajendranath (Popatlal). Why don't we have comic scenes in the films that are being made today?

Watch any films in a single screen theater or a multiplex or any of the OTT platforms and you will find Ghostly, ghastly, gory, and scenes stoning with sex, but you will not and a kind of comic scenes which used to bring joy and good cheer into our lives...

It is in this gloomy background that I'm thinking of an unusual man called Raju Shrivastava, who has dedicated his life to bring laughter into the lives of millions down the years and is known as the "King of Commedy".

Raju was born Satyaprakash Shrivastava in a middle class family in Kanpur and his only source of inspiration was his father who was a hindi poet.

Raju was interested in a mimicry and came out of Kanpur in search of opportunities to prove his talent and it did not take him very long to make a name as a comedian.

He started off by playing small and ceaneo roles in films like Maine Pyar Kiya, Tezaab, Aamdani aathanni kharcha rupaiya and Main to prem ki Diwani.

He also dubbed for the stars like Jitendra, Govinda and others..and he had reached a stage when he could make his own choices and he decided to concentrate on shows and it took him very little time to be known as a talented and saleable performer on stage. The highlight of his shows where his scenes this on his keen observation.

He next decided to take part in some important reality shows on television and was successful in shows like " The great laughter Challenge", Big boss 2 in hindi, Nach Baliye, and he also participated in the Kapil Sharma Show. Raju Shrivastava was no less than any star now.

It was by a sheer quirk of sake that he got into politics when the Samajvadi Party Suprimo Mulayamsingh Yadav saw him perform and asked him to join his party and Raju was chosen to contest the elections to the Lok Sabha from Kanpur, his birth place, but Raju had issues with the workers of the party and gracefully returned his ticket to the SP Suprimo.

And his next big step was to join the Bhartiya Janta Party, of which he is a prominent and powerful men and face now. At this time, he is the Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Film Parishad and his incharge of the subsidy scheme of the UP govt which is interested in attracting film makers from Mumbai and other places to shoot on locations in UP and the government offers huge subsidies for hindi films that are short in the State and a smaller subsidy to the films led in the four local languages spoken in UP.

Raju Shrivastava is also on the panel which is to take all major decisions about the Film City proposed to be built on the outskirts of Noida.

There are ambitious plans being made for the Film City which is to be a Film City on par with any film city anywhere in the world.

The land for the film city has already been marked and now that the elections in UP are due in February, all further decisions about the Film City will be taken only after the election.

Raju, at 58 has already achieved so much, but he is not the kind of man who will the satisfied with his achievements and hopes and aims to reach new heights of success.

And he has the active support and inspiration of his wife Shikha and his 2 children Antara and Ayushman and his hundreds of dedicated followers...

I found the opportunity to talk to Raju Shrivastava was the power of the social media today and he said, " bahot accha hain, ismein bolne ki azadi milti hain, lekin logon ko jaanana chahiye ki azadi ki bhi ek hadd hoti hain".

Raju was to fly to Lucknow the same night most probably to campaign for his party in UP and what could I do for him, but only wish him all the very best not only his campaign, but for all the challenges he had to meet on his journey towards success- and more success.

EK RAJU KISI ZAMANE MEIN GENTLEMEN BAN GAYA THA, AUR AAJ WOH RAJU ZAMANE PAR RAAJ KAR RAHA HAI(SRK). AUR AB YEH RAJU NETA BAN GAYA HAIN, DEKHTE HAIN YEH RAJU KAHAN TAK CHALLANG MARTA HAIN AUR KYA KYA JEET LETA HAIN.