Bollywood actor Satish Kaushik, 'Calendar' of 'Mr India', passes away

Kaushik was an alumnus of National School of Drama, New Delhi

Veteran actor and filmmaker Satish Kaushik - who essayed loveable characters like Calendar in Mr. India, and Pappu Pager in Deewana Mastana - passed away on Thursday. He was 66.

Close family friend Anupam Kher announced the passing away of Kaushik.

Celebrities took to social media to condole his death.

Full of life and humour, Kaushik, just a day ago had posted photos of Holi celebrations in Mumbai hosted by Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi.

Also Read | Satish Kaushik's last post is from Javed Akhtar's Holi party

He is survived by his wife Shashi and his 11-year-old daughter Vanshika Kaushi.

Kaushik was in Delhi when he suffered a heart attack while travelling in a car. He was taken to a hospital and there were efforts to revive him but he passed away.

His body has been taken to Deendayal Hospital for postmortem and is expected to be handed over to his family after which his last rites will be conducted either in Delhi or Mumbai.

Kaushik was an alumnus of the National School of Drama, New Delhi and the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.

Kaushik wore many hats - he was a director, producer, theatre actor, film actor, comedian and screenwriter.

“I know that death is the ultimate truth of this world! But I had not thought even in my wildest dreams that I would write this thing about my best friend someday. Such a sudden full stop to a friendship of 45 years!! Life will never be the same without you Satish!,” Kher, his NSD batchmate, said.

“Woke up to this horrible news, he was my biggest cheerleader, a very successful actor and director Satish Kaushik ji personally was also a very kind and genuine man, I loved directing him in Emergency. He will be missed, Om Shanti,” wrote Kangana Ranaut.

Born on 13 April 1956 in Mahendragarh in Haryana, Satish graduated from Kirori Mal College in Delhi in 1972.

He wrote dialogues for Kundan Shah's comedy classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (1983).

He was well known for his role as Calendar in the hit film Shekar Kapur’s Mr India in 1989 in which he played a memorable role alongside Sridevi, Anil Kapoor and Amrush Puri. He also was noted for his character of Pappu Pager in the comedy Deewana Mastana (1997), directed by his friend David Dhawan. The film stars Govinda, Anil Kapoor, and Juhi Chawla in pivotal roles.

He won the Filmfare Best Comedian Award twice: in 1990 for Ram Lakhan and in 1997 for Saajan Chale Sasural.

His first film as a director was Boney Kapoor-produced Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993), starring Sridevi and Anil Kapoor.

His second was Prem (1995) starring Tabu and Sanjay Kapoor, which was produced by Boney Kapoor.

Both Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja and Prem did not do well at the box office.

Kaushik got his first hit with Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain in 1999, in which Anil Kapoor and Kajol essayed lead roles.

In 2003, he came out with Tere Naam starring Salman Khan and Bhumika Chawla.

Kaushik has also served as Chairman of the Haryana Film Promotion Board and Vice President of the FTII Society.

He was last seen in the 2023 film Chhatriwala alongside Rakul Preet Singh and Sumeet Vyas among others.