Taking comedy seriously
Avinash Kalla

His girth is too large. His complexion too dark. His neck too short. He is pushing fifty. Crows' feet mark his eyes, jowls hang loose. He is the living picture of a man who has feasted on too much for too long without much restraint.

But by Jove, what an actor he is!

Two Filmfare awards for Best Actor in a Comic Role; a Screen Videocon Award for Best Anchor in a TV countdown show; accolades for directing superhits like Hum Apke Dil Mein Rahate Hain, Hudd Kardee Aapne and more recently Tere Naam.

Tere Naam, a true love story, has turned the fortunes of director Satish Kaushik and riding on the tide of success the filmmaker is all geared up to roll his next movie, which again is a true story.

The new film is based on the unbelievable yet true story of Lal Bihari Mritak of Uttar Pradesh who has been officially declared dead but is still fighting to prove his identity. Recently, the 'dead man' was awarded the IG-Nobel Prize in the USA.

"I read about him when I was making Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai. I was dumbstruck by the believe-it-or-not kind of a story of this man. On the spur of the moment, I decided to make a film on him to showcase his grief and pain.

Kaushik is targeting the film at the global audiences and has signed Anil Kapoor to play Lal Bihari. "This is not a comedy. Through the medium of cinema I want to be a part of his fight for justice. This is a very serious film."

This may be serious but Kaushik is today known for his comedy. He rewrote the canons of comedy with his role of Paaji, a Punjabi bumpkin from Phagwara, in the countdown show Philips Top Ten (Screen Videocon Award). He brought the house down with cameos in films like Jalwa, Mr. India, Ram Lakhan (Filmfare Award) Saajan Chale Sasural (Filmfare Award), Haseena Maan Jayegi, Hudd Kardee Aapne and many more. No star show abroad is complete without his brand of comedy.

That's his funny side. And his serious side is equally amazing. Starting off as an assistant director to Shekhar Kapoor in Masoom, Kaushik didn't have a dream entry as a director. His first two films, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja and Prem were among the 90s' biggest disasters. But then, luck smiled with Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehate Hain, the 1999 Kajol-Anil Kapoor superhit.

Both in his serious roles and comedies, Kaushik seems to draw a lot from real life. In his struggling days he observed life at close quarters. Despite being a graduate from the National School of Drama and the Film and Television Institute of India, he was turned away by many studios.

"It was Boney Kapoor who encouraged me to become a director," he says and adds with a wry smile, " though I gave him two big turnips (Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja and Prem), he's always been encouraging and urging me to keep going." Of course, it is a different story now as he is counted among the most in-demand directors.

It has been a long journey from his graduation days in Kirori Mal College (1972-75) and childhood spent at Delhi's Naiwali Gali in the congested Karol Bagh area. Today, Kaushik has to his credit more than 100 feature films, plays and television programmes.

What next? " Anything on TV or films that is quality stuff." Quality has been an obsession with Kaushik from his early days. Whether it was a two bit stand up comedy in his initial films or as Calendar in Mr India, Paaji in Philips Top Ten or even as Salesman Ramlal, Kaushik gives it all to a role.

It's been a long journey from the crowded bylanes of Delhi to Bollywood's boulevard of success. But Kaushik can look back with satisfaction. Once dubbed a flop, he is today a sought-after man in films. It is mega roles, mega billings and mega money. How times change!

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