Senior actor picks late Satish Kaushik’s 5 most iconic roles

Satish Kaushik would have turned 68 today. The renowned actor-director whose impeccable comic timing created the endearing onscreen character ‘Calendar’ in ‘Mr India’ and who earned accolades for his powerhouse performances in several hit films passed away on March 8 this year. On the late actor-director’s birth anniversary today industry senior and celebrated Tollywood actor Kharaj Mukherjee picks five of Satish Kaushik’s most iconic roles which will always be etched in our hearts.

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This Bollywood cult classic, directed by Kundan Shah, was a social satire on India’s bureaucracy, politics and media. When asked why he chose this film Kharaj explains, "In the years to come, this dark comedy achieved a cult status for its subtle plot and terrific acting by legendary actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Kaushik, Neena Gupta, Pankaj Kapur and others." Incidentally, Satish Kaushik was also the co-writer of the film.

"Satish Kaushik’s stellar act as Calendar, the quirky and endearing companion of Anil Kapoor’s famous character in ‘Mr. India’, is undoubtedly his one of the most loved performances. His adorable charm and impeccable comic timing included a layer of joy to the already iconic Bollywood hit," explained an excited Kharaj.

Accroring to Kharaj Mukherjee, this film was like a comedic tour-de-force. "Ram Lakhan had an ensemble cast of Rakhee, Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Madhuri Dixit, and Amrish Puri in lead roles. Kaushik played Kashiram, a servant working at Devdhar’s (Anupam Kher) shop. They are surely one of the funniest pairs in Indian cinema," the senior actor shared.

Kaushik was seen as Chaurasia, a loyal friend to Akshaye Khanna’s character in the film. Kharaj recalls, "His stellar act gave a much-needed dose of humour and warmth to this romantic melodrama. Along with Jaspal Bhatti and Kader Khan, Satish Kaushik and Vivek Vaswani delivered the required comic angle adding the sentimental ‘apna desh’ kind of dialogues. Chourasia is another enduring role, infusing even a small supporting character with depth and personality."

In ‘Deewana Mastana’, we got to see another gem of a performance from Kaushik as Pappu Pager, a talkative con man who often finds himself in awkward situations. "His amazing bonding with Anil Kapoor and his effortless flair for subtle humour turned this film into a laugh riot. Being an unusual Mumbai gangster with a unique way of insulting his enemies the versatile actor excelled in his role. With his unique curses like ‘Tamatar ke akhiri daane’ and ‘dhoodh ke fatele hisse,’ Pappu Pager is surely one of the most loved onscreen performances by Satish Kaushik," said the Bengali actor.