Gajodhar Bhaiyya ki jai!. Review on Raju Srivastava

"Khudi ko kar ke buland itnaa chadha woh jaise taise

Khudi ko kar ke buland itnaa chadha woh jaise taise

Khuda ne bande se khud poocha , "abe ab utregaa kaise?"

And thus started his charm and charisma in the first few episodes of Great Indian Laughter

Challenge-1 He instantly secured a place in everyone's heart and has maintained that status ever

since. He is the king of humour, the craftsman of words, the wizard of stand up comedy- Raju

Srivastav.

'Impeccable' would be the word to describe his comic timing. Hand him the most trivial of issues such
as a common man traveling in a local train in Mumbai, a South Indian narrating a story or a
group of UP fellows bidding goodbye to their friend at the railway station, he's sure to squeeze
the best humour out of it.

Raju Srivastav was first seen in the 1988 movie 'Maine Pyar Kia’ in a small role. In stage shows,
he played the Amitabh Bachchan look-alike because of his looks and style. He actually got noticed
in the laughter challenge show. There has been no looking back for him ever since. Filmfare
awards, Hero Honda awards, laughter shows- he is all over them. The trailers of these shows have
Raju Srivastav on them to pull in more eyeballs and that speaks volumes of his popularity.

A few of my favourite ones, although selecting few is itself a herculean task-

1. Bhailog ka pravachan where goons and thieves have an emergency meeting and their leader decides that they need to change their way of earning and narrate mythological stories to the
public (pravachan).
Favourite dialog- Leader narrating the Ramayan- "Jis samay sita maiya apni kholi mei baiteli thi, Lanka ka bhai Kans aaela tha. Kans ne bola- Maate, mala bhook laagli"

2. Keralite narrating the story of movie 'Hum Aapke hai Kaun' to a UP friend- In his South Indian
accent, the coconut stall owner struggles to narrate the story in Hindi that leads to a hilarious situation.
Favourite dialog- "Umko Hindi ka thoda tablik." instead of takleef.

3. Gajodhar bhaiyya narrating the story of Devdas to friends- The UP friends agog with
excitement ask the only person in the crowd who has seen the movie to narrate the story.
Favourite dialog-Gajodhar bhaiyya describes the ending of the movie, "Aur woh(Aishwarya rai) bhaagi hai, ek kamra paar kiye, phir doosra paar kiye, phir aangan paar karke, balcony paar karke,... arre jaldi jaao, bahot nautanki kar rahi hai."

4. The food stalls at a grand marriage reception- A wonderful description of all Indian marriages
and the keen interest among guests for having sumptuous food. Let me admit that I remembered this video at the reception of my wedding!
Favourite dialog- He describes the guests standing in queue for food! "Bade bade IAS, IPS officers plate leke bhikaari ki tarah khaane ki line mei khade hote hain."

5. Local Train!- This one had to be on the list. Anyone who has seen this video is bound to
remember it on his/her journeys in a Mumbai local. An unprecedented description of the train getting
ready in the morning for its onward journey, the handles' happiness in the train, the fan and its
frustration! Just everything!
Favourite dialog- "Local mei itni bheed hoti hai, aapko jab khujli hoti hai, toh baaju waala bolta hai- Apna Apna khujaao" :P

6. Interview of a ghost!- Yes, he hasn't left any topic in the world or outside it! The
interviewer speaking to a ghost, to know his style of living and about their marriages!
Favourite dialog- “Hum chudailo ke photo dekh rahe humaari shaadi ke liye”

7. Airlines trying their best to improvise on their services to get ahead of competitors. One of
them decides on provide the passengers laundry service in the flight, while the other plans on
oil massage for them, while a unique third kind decides on organizing cabaret!

8. A villager, Manohar bhaiyya, narrating a story, this time it's on Titanic!
Favourite dialog- "Ek bahot bada jahaj dikhaaya hai. Woh doobne lagta hai."
Friend- "Haan, Phir?"
"Aur doobne lagta hai."
"Phir?"
"Phir doob hi jaata hai."
"Phir?".
"Arre, yahi toh poori kahani hai."

1. The list cannot be complete without one of his mimicry acts. He had once given a wonderful performance mimicking Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Sharukh Khan. No favourite dialog can be pointed out here, everything was just perfect.
   
   If you are in a blue mood, just watch his videos on youtube. If not burst into laughter, you'll at least smile. It's a personal experience.

Number 10 would be filled by any video that I might have missed. So friends, please mention your

favourite one in the comments.