Winning a comedy show can make you a star, but sometimes audiences remember a comedian who sits in third place for years. Raju Srivastava’s journey continues The great Indian humor challenge A prime example is. Years after the show’s first season, actor and former judge Shekhar Suman believes the late comedian deserved to wear the crown.
In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, Shekhar looked back on the competition, recalled Raju’s hesitation before joining the show and explained why he expected the comedian to win. While Raju bagged the third position, Sunil Paul won and Naveen Prabhakar bagged the second position.
Shekhar Suman recalled Raju Srivastava’s hesitation before the show
Shekhar judged The great Indian humor challenge Along with Navjot Singh Sidhu, revealed that Raju approached him for advice before participating in the inaugural season.
“When the show was announced, Raju called me. He came and said, ‘Bhaiya, should I do it or not? Because I don’t know about the rest of the cast, but I have some fame so far. It will be a shame if I don’t win,'” said Shekhar.
Raju has appeared in many Bollywood films before acid (1988), I loved you (1989), Bazigar (1993) and I am crazy about my love (2003). She also appeared in television sitcoms Look brother look And played the role of Dhurandhar Singh powerful.
Despite Shekhar endorsing Raju, the comedian finished third. Meanwhile, Sidhu had placed a bet on Bhagwant Maan, who ran ahead of Raju. Sunil Paul won the trophy.
Reflecting on the result, Shekhar said that Raju’s observational humor stood out among the contestants, even though the competition was closely fought.
“His observational humor was the best of the lot. Not all of his work was great, but whatever he did, he did very well,” Shekhar said.
He added, “Raju deserved to be the winner, but sometimes the circumstances are such that sometimes, another player scores a century, so, at that time, Sunil Paul’s style and Naveen Prabhakar’s ‘Recognize?’ became very popular, and they placed first and second. It was a very close contest.
“I thought when Raju came third, he would be very hurt and upset, which he was. No offense to the winners, they were all great. But I think Raju Srivastava was a very special talent,” added the actor.
Raju continued to appear in several television and reality shows, including Bigg Boss 3, Dance 6, Comedy Nights with Kapil And The Kapil Sharma Show. He died of a heart attack in 2022.