Mahima Chaudhry: Satish Kaushik’s news is very shocking as just a day before we played Holi together

The popular Calendar from Mr India or Pappu Pager from Deewana Mastana Satish Kaushik died in the early morning today (Mar 9). The news came as a shock to many including Mahima Chaudhry, his co-star from their upcoming film Emergency, who also celebrated Holi with the actor at Javed Akhtar’s Holi bash on March 7.
Talking to Bombay Times, an emotional Mahima said, “I woke up in the morning with this call and got to know about his death.It was really shocking as just a day before we played Holi. You feel shocked and lifeless. It’s unbelievable as that day he was so happy and enjoying with everyone and then next thing you know about him is this. You realise how fragile life is. Is it going to be your last meeting with someone – has become such a reality of late. I had given him a big hug when he was leaving from the party.”
Mahima recollects how Satish supported her and boosted her confidence once she was back to work post her cancer treatment. She shares, “He was an extremely supportive person. When I got back to work and I was on the sets of Emergency, he said, ‘Mahima tum itni achchi artiste ho, tumhe toh hamare production mein kaam karna chahiye’. He was very active as an actor and a filmmaker. He asked me to come to his office and showed me their work. He said, ‘Dekho during the lockdown also we made two films. Tum toh hamari ghar ki ho, tumhare saath toh kaam karna hi hai’. Then he started discussing a project with me. He was producing the film and during Holi also he asked me if I received the script. In fact, just yesterday only I got the script. He discussed the project with Neetu ji (Singh) too and said you two will make such a great combo (on screen).”

Mahima also fondly talks about Satish, the actor, she says, “He has played such wonderful characters in his movies. During Emergency, I was just sitting and staring at him looking at his performance. I don’t think there is a single person who would meet him and not feel jovial and happy like he was. He was so contagious with his personality. He was also very health conscious. He was like now I am competing with all you guys. Pehle mein rotiyan khaata tha, magar ab mein gin (count) ke rotiyan khata hoon. Pehle mein parwa nahi karta tha, but ab main bohot conscious ho gaya hoon. He and Anupam Kher were very close and he would be like, ‘Main toh isko dekh dekh ke hi (healthy food habits) karta hoon.”