Waiting for his dues: Patna rickshaw-puller can imitate voices of over 50 stars and VIPs

From Raju Srivastava to Sunil Pal and Shekhar Suman to Kapil Sharma - there’s one thing that is common among these stars is that their stand-up mimicry skills contributed a lot in making them household names across India. These stars not only enjoy a huge following on social media but they also get invitations to perform across the globe. But, there are many such talents across India who are languishing in obscurity and not many know about them. In one such incident, there is a rickshaw-puller in Bihar's Patna, who can mimic more than 50 stars and VIPs, but he is still waiting for the much-deserved recognition.

Coming from a humble background, Deepak has earned many admirers of his art, from Assembly to streets and he hopes that someday he will get "due appreciation".

Recently, Deepak was awarded at an event held in the Bihar Assembly, as reported by news agency IANS. Moreover, State Tourism minister Narayan Prasad and other dignitaries were present on the occasion and appreciated Deepak a lot. Hailing from Topchanchi in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district, the artiste has been working as rickshaw-puller in Patna for the past 15 years to eke out a living.




Deepak started performing when he was 20-25 year old but with that he could not support his family and took rickshaw-pulling as a profession.

From Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha to Amrish Puri, Deepak can immaculately mimic more than 50 Bollywood stars and VIPs to enthral his audience. When he mimics former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, it takes people by surprise.

Though he was taken to villages and towns for stage programmes, he used to get nominal remuneration for it. Deepak is still single and is the breadwinner of the family. He enjoys mimicry because it's his passion. While talking about his skills, Deepak rued the fact that mimicry would not prove fruitful for him in his home-state.

A disappointed Deepak claimed that Bihar and Jharkahnd do not value art. "In 1990, I thought of going to Mumbai but could not do so due to family's responsibility." He said that mimicry is not so easy as it requires practice. "Though I can mimic all the heroes easily but faced difficulty in copying Amrish Puri." His family is everything for Deepak. Though he is a rickshaw-puller in Patna, but with his earnings he is making his younger brother study M.Sc. in Delhi.

Though times may seem tough for Deepak, he has full faith that someday his better days will come.