‘I would have never come to Mumbai had he not shown confidence in me’
The news of Satish Kaushik’s death on Thursday morning came as a shock to his industry peers, fans and admirers. Actor-singer Ssumier S Pasricha gets emotional as he recalls his association with the late actor-filmmaker, crediting the latter for where he is in his career today.
“I would have never come to Mumbai or become an actor, had he (Kaushik) not shown that confidence in me,” he tells us.
Recalling the time he first met Kaushik, back in 2009, Pasricha says, “I was doing a play with (filmmaker) Shekhar Kapur in Delhi, when Satish Kaushik ji saw me for the first time. He said, ‘You are brilliant. Why are you wasting your time here in Delhi? You must come to Mumbai. Main teri madad karunga’.”
Going by the advice that was given to him, Pasricha decided to leave for Mumbai in mid-2009.
“I contacted him (Kaushik) as soon as I reached the city, as I did not know anyone [else] here. He helped me get in touch with his manager, who arranged a few auditions for me. That’s how I got my first film, Hum Tum Shabana (2011),” the Chandigarh
Kare Aashiqui
(2021) actor says.
The kind of help that Kaushik extended to him, Pasricha goes on to say, is something that is rather rare. “Aaj kal aapke dost aapki madad nahin karte. Satish sir did so much for a stranger who he spotted randomly,” he says, adding, “Whatever I am today is because of him and because of the courage that he gave me.”
Aaj kal aapke dost aapki madad nahin karte and Satish sir did so much for a stranger who he spotted randomly.
SSUMIER S PASRICHA, Actor-singer