Actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik passed away on Thursday morning after suffering a heart attack, his close friend and industry colleague Anupam Kher said in a statement. He was only 66.
Since news broke of his demise, several Bollywood actors took to social media to express their shock. Former co-stars and friends of the late actor took to their handles to offer their condolences to the Kaushik family and while also sharing their fondest memory of the star.
Among the many was filmmaker Subhash Ghai who took to his handle to grieve Satish's sudden demise. In an Instagram post, he wrote, "It’s just heart-shattering news that we lost our one best friend #DEAR SATISH - a man who always laughed even in worst crisis and stood by anyone in his crisis “A great artiste. Greater human being the greatest friend I know He left us so sudden so soon. I m sad Om shanti."
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In a statement to ETimes, the filmmaker wrote in detail about the bond he shared with the late star. "There are very few actors who are close to me in real life. People who I can call and share happy and sad moments with. Satish was one of them since the time we worked together in 'Ram Lakhan'," Ghai wrote and went on to add, "I met him last month. We spoke about Karan Razdan's film about the premier of that movie. Satish was very excited as usual. He was speaking about his next film, the next movie he's going to direct. He was a great artiste, whether he was on stage, on the big screen, small screen or whether he was writing. He was great at everything he did."
See more: Satish Kaushik Death News: Satish Kaushik passes away at 66, Anupam Kher and Kangana Ranaut react
He also revealed how touched he was when the actor made it a point to call him on his birthday and tell Ghai 'how he missed being there'.
"We shared so many emotions so often. We had a great group of friends - Satish, Anupam, Anil and Karan," the filmmaker added.
Opening up about his late friend's jovial side, he wrote, "Satish will always make us laugh and yet, he was a very serious man from within. He was a serious artiste. He was a very happy person. He wasn't the type jo andar se bade dukhi hote hain. He was jovial to the core. Agar hum kabhi dukhi ho jate the toh woh hame zaroor hasata tha. Usse koi dukh ho, toh woh khud ko bhi hasa deta tha. Even while suffering a crisis, he used to joke, 'arre mere saath kuchch hona tha, kuchch aur hi ho gaya'."
Subhash also recalled their last conversation saying, "I told him that the students at my film school were missing him and he promised to come over very soon. But now that won't be possible."
"The film industry has lost a great talent. I have lost a very dear friend," he concluded.
According to Anupam Kher, Kaushik was at a friend's home in Delhi when he complained of uneasiness. "He felt uneasy and he told the driver to take him to the hospital and on the way he suffered a heart attack around 1 am," Kher told PTI.
Kaushik's last post on his official Twitter account was a series of pictures from the annual Holi celebrations organised by noted lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar on March 7 in Mumbai.
He is survived by his wife and daughter.
