Amitabh Bachchan confirms he sent a note for Raju Srivastava: 'He opened his eye a bit, and then went away'

Hours after Raju Srivastava was cremated in Delhi on Thursday, Amitabh Bachchan wrote about the late comedian on his blog. Amitabh called him a "colleague, friend and a creative artist in his latest blog. Raju died on Wednesday at the age of 58, after 41 days of hospitalisation at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) where he was admitted following a heart attack. (Also read: Raju Srivastava’s wife cries inconsolably during comedian’s funeral)

Amitabh wrote, "Another colleague, friend, and a creative artist leaves us. A sudden ailment and (he is) gone before time, before his creativity time completion. Each day in the morning, with him in spirit and information from near ones."

Raju was cremated in Delhi’s Nigambodh Ghat as per Hindu rituals on Thursday. His wife Shikha Srivastava, their son Ayushmann were present there. They were joined by Sunil Pal and Ahsaan Qureshi, director Madhur Bhandarkar and singer Ram Shankar among many others who paid their last respects to Raju.

Last month, reports had claimed that Amitabh had sent a voice recording to Raju's family and it was played for the comedian while he was still in coma. An India Today report had claimed the message was, "It's enough Raju. Rise up Raju, and keep teaching us all to laugh."

The actor wrote about the voice recording that he had shared when Raju was in a coma. He also said that Raju once opened his eyes upon hearing the recording. "They got advised to send a voice to awaken his condition. I did and they played it for him in his state in his ears. On one instance he did open his eye a bit and then, went away. His sense of timing and the colloquial humour of his birth shall remain with us. It was unique, open, frank, and filled with humour. He smiles from the Heavens now and will be the reason for mirth with the God’s.