The Big B factor: When Raju Srivastava boarded a train to see an ailing Bachchan

If there was one leitmotif in the life of Raju Srivastava, it was probably Amitabh Bachchan. The superstar was the one who pulled him to Mumbai for the first time, set him off on his comic career and whose photograph still occupies pride of place in his home. Bachchan was “god” for the popular comedian, who died at a Delhi hospital on Wednesday at the age of 58, said his brother. Srivastava, who grew up watching every Bachchan film in a cinema hall in his hometown Kanpur, was first noticed for his resemblance to the star and then for his impersonations of him. In 1982, Srivastava, then just 18, rushed to Mumbai when Bachchan sustained a near-fatal injury while shooting for the film “Coolie”. The idea was to get a glimpse of the man. That did not happen of course and Srivastava joined the crowds keeping vigil outside the Breach Candy Hospital where Bachchan was admitted.

“Raju bhai would eat vada pav every day and stand outside the hospital and pray for Bachchan jis life. He had come to see Amitabh Bachchan ji as he considered him god,” Srivastavas brother Dipoo told

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