The wee hours of March 9, Thursday, brought the sad demise of legendary actor-director Satish Kaushik Ji.
The actor was allegedly asleep by 10:30 p.m. on March 8 but later felt some uneasiness, after which he called his manager, Santosh Rai, at 12:10 a.m. Santosh rushed him to the Fortis Hospital in Gurugram, where Satish Ji was announced dead on arrival.
Delhi Police immediately arrived, and the body was sent for postmortem following the routine proceedings.
Delhi Police are working out this process under CrPC Section 174, which states police are to inquire on matters of suicide and others. The main aim of these proceedings is to understand if the death of a person occurred under any mysterious circumstances or from any other unnatural causes.
After the initial report, the cause of death is said to be due to cardiac arrest. No injury marks over the body. No alcohol was found in his body. No foul play was found. Blood and viscera samples have been preserved and sent for further investigation. According to the initial post-mortem report, no injury marks were found on the body.
After the postmortem of the late actor, the body was handed over to the family for the completion of the last rites. The actor’s body will be brought to Mumbai today in an air ambulance from Delhi for the cremation.
The funeral of the late actor will take place today at 5 p.m. in Versova.
Born on April 13, 1956, to a middle-class family in Mahendragarh, Haryana, Satish finished his college education in Delhi. He was a renowned alumnus of Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College, where his love for theater initially started.
He was also enrolled in the National School of Drama and the prestigious Film and Television Institute in India.
Kaushik ji wasn’t just an actor but also a director, producer, screenwriter, comedian, and an amazing and warm human being.
He got his break in the industry through his role in Mr. India as a cook named Calendar. His comic timing and his active dialogue delivery got so famous that people thought he was made to do comedy only.
In the film, Calendar interacted with a group of orphaned kids and cooked for them every day. These constant interactions usually turned into humorous and funny situations. Calendar Khana do was a dialogue that the children in the film often repeated, and it became part of the lives of Indians around the 1990s.
Satish Ji revealed in an interview that his role as a comedian got so renowned that he ended up doing 150 such roles in various films.
His other roles that are still remembered by the public are from movies like Ram Lakhan, Jane Bhi Do Yaron, Deewana Mastana, and Woh 7 Din.
Satish Kaushik began directing after establishing a successful acting career and has directed films such as Roop ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, Tere Naam, and Hum Apke Dil Mein Rehte Hai.
His recent directing was Kaagaz and Kaagaz 2, featuring Pankaj Tripathi, and his last appearance on the screen was with late actor Rishi Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, and Juhi Chawla in “Sharma ji Namkeen,” which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Besides all the success, Satish Kaushik was a very humble and down-to-earth person who happily posed with fans and always greeted everyone with love and respect.
He was always down for both light and serious discussions, be it on films, scripts, or his favorites.
Anupam Kher was the first to tweet about Satish ji’s demise on Twitter, and he mentioned that they had been best friends for 45 years and were batchmates at the NSD.
Actors like Salman Khan, Govinda, Akshay Kumar, Juhi Chawla, and Kangna Ranaut have expressed their grief, saying how he was more than an idol for them and how he was the most cheerful and happiest on the sets of the films they have shared with the late actor.
Musician Javed Akhtar tweeted his shocking reaction, as he had met the actor one day earlier, on March 7th, at a Holi party.
Satish Ji attended Javid Akhtar’s Holi party in Delhi and also posted pictures from the celebration, wishing the newlyweds Richa Chadda and Ali Fazal.
His demise is a shock to everyone in the industry.
Satish is now survived by his wife, Shashi Kaushik, whom he married in 1995, and his daughter, Vanshika.
