Acquainting you with Satish again

Later on even I would step out straight from the bathroom to sahab ab ghar par nahin hain sirs not home says actorfilmmaker Satish Kaushik 64 of the time in the early 80s in Bombay when hed been chasing down director Shekhar Kapur The attendant on the phone only had multiple excuses to ward off such phone callsHaving heard once from a spotboy that Kapur had gone to the airport to drop off someone he went there straight to introduce himself asking for a job of an assistant director AD There was a position available but going to be filled by one Rajkumar Santoshi he was told laterTo which instead of regretting that hed miss working with Kapur he said You will miss working with me There was a slip in my English Kaushik laughs Kapur was evidently intriguedimpressedThis is how he landed up as an assistant on the milestone movie Masoom 1982 He got to cowrite memorable dialogues for Kundan Shahs landmark film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro 1983 next Also act in it as Ashok of courseFine foot in the door for a lowermiddleclass boy from Delhis Karol Bagh who had trained in acting from NSD and briefly at FTII Being pragmatic about his career prospects still Kaushik had worked for a year as an office boy at a textile mill having moved to Bombay to become friends with the city firstKaushiks father had managed to recommend him to the mill owner Banarsi Lal Arora whose family currently owns the home furnishing chain DDeacutecor Decades later he came across one of his malikowners Juhu properties that he could afford to buy from his filmmaking salaryKaushiks father used to sell the popular Harrison taaleclocks for a living and look after a family of eight groaning under the heavy middleclass weight Kaushik has played this role to near perfection on stage as Salesman Ramlal based on Arthur Millers melancholic Death of a SalesmanBut how does the janta know Kaushik best As Pappu Pager Jumbo German Airport Paani Puri Sharmahellip These are atrangicolourful names hed pick up from peoples takia kalams oft repeated refrains to give to the cuddly comedian hed show up on screen as all through the 90s matching wits in particular with Govinda who considers Kaushik more spontaneous than him Which is tall praiseThe name inspired by another family friends takia kalam that remains associated with Kaushik still is Calendar from Mr India 1987 This is a part he used Chanakya buddhi to carve out for himself working on the scifi script with writer Javed AkhtarBy the late 80s Kaushik had proved himself as an efficient polymath plus dependable hand on set But he didnt want to AD on Mr India Hed rather direct his own film Producer Boney Kapoor and writer Akhtar came over to meet narrate the script and cajole him into signing up This must be a first for an AD although associate director in this caseWhats more fascinating though is Kaushiks directorial debut Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja RKRCKR in 1993 produced by Boney Kapoor positioned and mounted as the most expensive movie in the history of Indian cinema The mahuratceremonial shot of RKRCKR coincided with the party for Mr Indias silver jubilee 25th week run in theatresKaushik remembers There were Anil Kapoor and Sridevi on stage and I glided on the trolley for the shot waving at the crowd being launched as the director Thats a first for someones first film for sureRKRCKR had a ninecity premiere with castcrew By the last screening Kaushik knew the film had bombed He considered jumping off his firstfloor hotel room in Hyderabad but decided against it knowing that he would land on a pileup of vegetables on the groundRKRCKR was an exercise in how nothing exceeds like excess During the edit Akhtar advised him to show up on the screen as himselfdirector to explain to the audience that everything hes ever loved about movies hes put into oneKaushik of course continued to direct Bollywood films Kareena Kapoors first hit Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai 2001 for instance Or Salman Khan as Radhe centreparting of hair was Salmans idea in the blockbuster Tere Naam 2003 His most recent film as a director Kaagaz an arthouse entertainer with Pankaj Tripathi I watched last night We saw him play Bombay Stock Exchanges Black Cobra in Scam 1992 in October 2020Still curious how did he meet producer Boney Kapoor Because he agreed to do a walkon part as a flowerseller in Boneys production Woh Saat Din 1983 For the most part as an actor hes never said no to work He just works How does he look back at four decades I ask KaushikHeres the thing about Bombay he tells me If youre a jovial guy and good company people will have you over for drinks theyll feed you and then you take it from there Couldnt agree moreMayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture He tweets mayankw14 Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paper