He came to the college to study science, but by the time he had left, it was to make a career in theatre. We see this a lot today, but Satish was one of the first to have done it successfully.”

Keval Arora, theatre critic and former staff advisor at Delhi’s Kirori Mal College (KMC) Players Theatre Society is speaking to us on the day when the news of veteran Satish Kaushik’s sudden passing at 67, has hit headlines. Arora, who took over in 1980 from Players founder Frank Thakurdas, retired from the position in 2022. It was here that Kaushik began his creative innings in 1972. Arora acknowledges Kaushik’s achievement as unique because he didn’t have too much going for him except talent and determination. “No ‘looks’ for sure, and no family pedigree to open doors for him,” says Arora. Straddling both, an unforgiving film industry and Hindi theatre, Kaushik became a master at having the best of both worlds. He was equally famous for playing small, but hit roles in blockbuster films like Ram Lakhan and Mr India as carrying stage productions like Salesman Ramlal, an adaptation of Arthur Miller’s Death of Salesman, on his shoulders.