Remembering Satish Kaushik at OTTplay Awards: When he spoke about celebrating OTT content across languages | Exclusive

On Thursday, March 9, 2023, the film industry and cinema enthusiasts woke up to the sad news of the sudden demise of veteran actor Satish Kaushik. The 66-year-old actor-director-screenwriter left for the heavenly abode after suffering a major cardiac arrest in Delhi. We at OTTplay remember him fondly for his lively presence at the OTTplay Awards 2022, held in September last year, where he won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role award for his commendable performance in Netflix's Thar.

In a career spanning about four decades, the late actor was nominated and awarded a number of times, yet his childlike enthusiasm and infectious smile when he lifted his OTTplay trophy won everyone's heart at the event. Soon after winning the award, Kaushik spoke exclusively to OTTplay and shared his fond memories of working on Thar with Anil Kapoor. 

"Thar is a very special film to me because it belongs to the people I've associated with for such a long time. It was like working with family — with Anil Kapoor's production, Anil Kapoor, and Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor. It was special, and the whole team was special," he said.

Kaushik dedicated his award to the entire team of Thar because, in his words, "Thar had great teamwork: be it cinematographer Shreya Dubey, the production designers, or all the actors — Fatima Sana Shaikh, Mukti Mohan, and everyone."

He also heaped praises on Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor and said, "Harsh Varrdhan was a revelation (in the film). He's doing his kind of cinema and the kind of roles he believes in. I think he was superb in the film."

Kaushik further added, "Anil Kapoor (and I) have worked together for a long time. So, it was special to do this kind of relationship film, in which I just kind of follow him and adore him as my boss. The whole atmosphere was different; it was a great location, so I had a great time thinking about my role and thinking about my character, which was (that of) a resigned cop who had given up all hopes in life."

"Although mine was a very quiet role, and I was mostly in the background, I'm very happy that the jury noticed this performance, which was very layered and effective. For that, I thank my entire unit, especially Anil Kapoor, who really pushed me to do this character and really fought for me to do this role," he shared.

Speaking about the concept of One Nation, One OTT Awards, Kaushik had opined, "I think it's a great idea because there's so much content happening on OTTs in all the languages and everyone can see it, whether it is Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu or Tamil —because there are subtitles and everyone can understand the content. Even Hindi content is going to all language-specific places."

Congratulating us for bringing people from all languages together on one platform, Kaushik signed off by saying, "I think it's a great idea that OTTplay is bringing everyone together, honouring them, showing their work, and recognising their work. I think it's a great idea, and I'm very happy about it."