Comedian Raju Srivastava dies

Popular Indian comedian Raju Srivastava has passed away at the age of 58, his family has confirmed.

Srivastava was being treated at a hospital in the capital, Delhi, following a heart attack on 10 August.

The comedian had been taken to hospital and put on life-support after experiencing chest pain and collapsing while working out at the gym.

Last week, his family said that Srivastava was recovering slowly but remained on ventilator.

Srivastava joined the entertainment industry in the 1980s as an actor in Hindi films.

He shot to fame in 2005 after participating in The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, a reality show for stand-up comedy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes at the news of Srivastava’s death.

Srivastava was known as the common man’s comedian.

He was born in 1963 in Kanpur city in northern state of Uttar Pradesh to poet Ramesh Srivastava. As a child, Srivastava was known to be fond of mimicking film stars.

His uncanny ability to mimic Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan was well known in the world of Hindi-language comedy.

Srivastava began doing comedy in the 1980s when the state-run Doordarshan TV was the audience’s main source of entertainment.

His first comedy sketch Hasna Mana Hai (Laughter is Banned) appeared in the form of an audio cassette._BBC