Shabana Azmi shares Satish Kaushik took his X-ray reports to Shyam Benegal during Mandi audition, said ‘I look beautiful from inside…’

Shabana Azmi remembered Satish Kaushik on his birth anniversary. She recalled how Kaushik offered to show his X-rays to filmmaker Shyam Benegal when he called to offer him a role in his film Mandi

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | April 13, 2023 07:10 PM IST

3 min read

Satish Kaushik passed away on March 8, 2023. (Express archive photo)

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On actor Satish Kaushjik’s 67th birth anniversary, best friend and actor Anupam Kher decided to celebrate his life and work in a grand manner. He organised a ‘Satish Kaushik Night’ in Mumbai on Thursday, where he invited many friends and colleagues of the late actor. Actor Shabana Azmi also came to pay her tribute to Kaushik on the special day. While addressing the audience at the event, Azmi recalled some funny anecdotes involving Kaushik.

Azmi remembered Kaushik as a ‘happy person’ who would always keep smiling. She recalled how Kaushik offered to show his X-rays to filmmaker Shyam Benegal when he called to offer him a role in his film Mandi (1983). Recalling how Kaushik used to make fun of himself, Azmi shared, “Once, he walked out of a nursing home with his X-rays in his hand. That is when Shyam Benegal, who had heard from someone that Satish Kaushik is a great actor, called him. He told Satish to bring some of his photos and come to his house. Satish looked at the X-rays and joked, ‘Shyam babu, main X-ray bhej dunga, kyunki andar se main bohot khoobsurat hun (I will send my X-rays because I am quite beautiful from the inside).”

Satish Kaushik passed away due to a heart attack in March this year. He is survived by his wife Shashi and daughter Vanshika.

Also read | Remembering Satish Kaushik: The Karol Bagh boy who came to Mumbai with Rs 800, a pocketful of dreams

Besides acting in several Hindi movies, Kaushik also tried his hand at direction. However, his debut directorial Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993), starring Anil Kapoor in the lead role, failed to impress the audience. Disappointed with the failure, he decided to end his life but changed his mind after looking at the frying potatoes.

Narrating the funny incident, Shabana Azmi said, “Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja had failed and he decided that, ‘Now I should die.’ He was on the first floor and when he looked down from there, there was a party going on. He saw some potatoes were being fried there. He thought, ‘If I will die after falling into these potatoes, it will be a bad death.’ So, he dropped the idea.”

Also read | When Satish Kaushik demanded to be shouted at by Shekhar Kapur on Masoom sets: ‘How would people notice me?’

Satish Kaushik was remembered as a fun-loving person by all at the ‘Satish Kaushik Night’, but Azmi revealed he was very sensitive when it came to his daughter Vanshika. She shared that when he and Vanshika got infected with Covid-19, Kaushik could not bear separation from his daughter and called Azmi to do something that would make the doctors shift Vanshika to his room. She revealed that he could not breathe a sigh of relief until Vanshika recovered fully.

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