Knew him for 50 years: David Dhawan remembers Satish Shah
What's the story
Filmmaker David Dhawan, who has collaborated with veteran actor Satish Shah on several projects, has paid tribute to his dear friend. Shah passed away on Saturday due to kidney failure at the age of 74. The duo worked together in films such as Hero No. 1 and Saajan Chale Sasuraal. In an interview with HT City, Dhawan spoke about their friendship and shared some fond memories of their time together.
Shared history
We graduated from FTII together: Dhawan
Dhawan and Shah were not just colleagues but also close friends who graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) together. "You don't even know how close we were. We passed out from FTII together. Forget the number of films we did, we knew each other for 50 years!" Dhawan told HT City. He added that they used to meet often during shoots, with Shah coming to visit him on set despite his health challenges.
Fond memories
Shah was 'full of life,' says Dhawan
Dhawan described Shah as "full of life." "We did meet in recent times, par phone pe bahot gappe maarte the (but we used to have long chats over the phone). He would keep sending me some random message or cartoons, I would ask 'kya kar raha hai Satish!'." "He had stopped working also some time back, he said 'bahot kaam kar liya ab araam karna hai' I said 'meri film main shuru karunga, terko lena hai usme.'"
Health issues
Shah had been undergoing dialysis
Dhawan also spoke about Shah's health problems, revealing that he had been undergoing dialysis at Leelavati Hospital in Mumbai. "He used to get his dialysis done from Leelavati Hospital in Mumbai. If I would be shooting in Mehboob Studios, I used to ask him 'aayega?' he used to come and meet everyone on set!" "He was perfectly okay, the problem started after the kidney transplant."
Health issues
Shah developed an infection after a kidney transplant
JD Majethia, the creator of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, also spoke about Shah's health problems. He revealed that the actor had developed an infection after his kidney transplant. "Satish Shah was not feeling well for the past few months." "Unka kidney transplant hua tha, and infection hogaya (He underwent a kidney transplant and later developed an infection). He was on the road to recovery initially, but later developed an infection," he said.
Final chat
Majethia planned to visit Shah last week
Majethia also revealed that Shah had been sounding healthy and positive during their last conversation. "However, I spoke to him the day before yesterday, and he was sounding so healthy and positive. He was talking about shooting something in November," he said. The Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai creator added that he had planned to visit Shah last week, but couldn't make it as it was too late at night.