Remembering Satish Kaushik: Satish Shah remembers the jovial man who hid his tragic life story with booming laughter

Remembering Kaushik, Shah shares, “I first met Satish during the shoot of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. At the time I was close to Kundan Shah, Binod Pradhan who was the cinematographer and editor Renu Saluja as we all had passed out of FTII together. Satish belonged to a different breed as he was from NSD and my junior by a few years. But when we met on the set, we were like old friends even though we didn’t frequently keep in touch. However, we always knew what the other was upto. Satish had a gang of friends and they would meet regularly, whereas I didn’t and I feel it was my loss.”

Satish Kaushik cast Satish Shah in his 2010 directorial Milenge Milenge starring Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. Shah says it was a great opportunity to reconnect with Kaushik. “Whenever we happened to meet, it was like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro happened just yesterday; we would laugh and talk. He also became a filmmaker and directed Milenge Milenge and I was a part of it. Unfortunately, for him and for me, the film didn’t do well at all.”

Shah then revealed that behind the exterior of a “jolly good man”, Satish had a tragic past but preferred to plaster his wounds with comedy. “He was a jolly good man, but had a tragic past. While his acting was loud and laughter even louder, he touched unimaginable lows when he lost his son.”

Kaushik lost his son Shanu Kaushik when he was just two years old. Opening up about this period in Kaushik’s life, Shah says, “He (Shanu) choked on milk when he was just under two years and died. It impacted his terribly, which is natural, it would shake anybody. I didn’t even get to see his son, and when I think back, I don’t know how it would have been to see him in his low phase. I can’t imagine Satish as someone who is sad and depressed. But during that time he had some good friends who helped him and raised his morale again.”

While Kaushik continued to work and spread happiness through his work, he always wanted to have children. Shah says, “He always missed his son; and then a daughter came in his world and that was the happiest moment in Satish’s life. He was doing everything for his daughter Vanshika, they had her after a very very long time. I am very sad that he left his daughter behind.”

“The interim period between losing his son and the birth of his daughter was a difficult time for him but he never showed that side to anyone. He would always laugh and make people happy, but the birth was his daughter brought him real happiness. She is just ten years old and she is brilliant, he was very attached to her. In fact his last words to his manager were also that he wants to live for his daughter,” Satish says with a lump in his throat.

Kaushik’s co-star Aftab Shivdasani, who worked as a child actor in Mr India, remembers him as a perfectionist. Kaushik played the popular role of Calendar in the Shekhar Kapur film and also assisted the director.

Aftab shares that Satish was always on his toes during the shoot of Mr India. Remembering Satish fondly, Aftab says, “He was Shekhar sir’s associate and also a very pivotal character in the film. He was the one who used to coordinate most of the stuff during the shoot as he was the associate director — from getting things ready technically to ensuring that the other actors, including the 10 naughty kids, were prepared. He pretty much anchored the whole shoot.”

Aftab also remembers Satish as a “strict disciplinarian” when it came to work. He remembers, “He was a strict disciplinarian while the shoot was on. He also kept us kids together — he would play with us, laugh and joke with us in between shots and make us all feel like family. But the moment work started, he would be serious and almost like a school teacher to ensure we are ready for the shoot.

Calendar is one of the most iconic roles in the history of Hindi films and it seemed like an extension of Kaushik’s personality. Aftab says Calendar was in every scene that involved the children, and became one of them. “I remember the scene where we don’t get food and we are all supposed to bang our steel plates with the cutlery saying “calendar khaana do!” It was quite an iconic scene, he had to behave that there is food even though there was none. He performed beautifully in the scene but us kids since we were so naughty and really enjoyed banging the plates even after Shekhar sir said çut’. He was the one tasked with ensuring the brunt of all our cheekiness.”

“I think Calendar was an extension of his own personal warmth, affection and loving nature. He would shout at us in one moment and cuddle us in the next…” concludes Aftab.