Satish Kaushik: Not just a comic actor
Creating niche in the highly competitive film industry is tough, but what's more difficult is to maintain the position and survive. The situation is more demanding for actors as they continuously need to modify themselves, experiment with their choice of roles and improve the graph of acting with every performance.
One such actor, who survived the tides of time and emerged out as a clear winner is Satish Kaushik - famous for his comic presence in in many famous Bollywood films.
He says that he has played comparatively loud and fluffy characters like 'Calendar', 'Mutu Swamy', among others, which were loved by people. But in recent times, cinema is witnessing quite a few changes, and now audience actually appreciates when you reinvent yourself as an actor and come out of the comfort zone.
"As a theatre artist, I have the capability to tune myself to any kind of performance of varied levels. And, I believe that reinventing myself with the demand of the changing trends of cinema is very important, as by doing this I can change the notion of the audience – which thinks I can only be a comic actor," says the actor who tried to experiment with different characters in films like Udta Punjab, Soorma and the latest release Bharat.
Apart from getting into the skin of this character and learning the way he speaks, it was essential for Kaushik to look fit as a Navy officer. So, he underwent some training and reduced extra kilos.
In Bharat, the actor is seen playing the captain of the navy ship, in which Salman Khan is the cadet.
This is the first time that 63-year-old actor is wearing a uniform on-screen. "It is a nice quirky role of a navy officer, who speaks in a very funny way (gibberish language). I had a great time working in this film and being surrounded by so many young actors," states Satish, who collaborated with Salman for the second time after Tere Naam (Directed the film).
Describing his experience at the shoot, he says, "We had a great time in that beautiful less populated city, shooting on the ship for 10-12 days. Also, reconnecting with Salman after a long time since 'Tere Naam' was a good thing."
On generally playing the supporting roles and giving small appearances in films, Satish feels that the length of the role is not much of an importance. Rather, what holds importance for him as an actor is, what character is it and how is it placed in the script.
"Small role can also have a very good impact and I have even proved this before. It really doesn't matter if it is a two-scene role. In Udta Punjab and Soorma I have not played big length roles, but the characters were very nice, so there the length did not matter," asserts Satish Kaushik.
The actor has generally seen playing the role of a comic actor in the majority of his career. And he says that comedy requires timing, and if you do not have that timing, you will lack that art.
"Not everyone can be a comic actor. It comes from within, though no doubt it can come from experience as well. It is the toughest one to pull off than other kinds of roles because it requires special skills which you should have within yourself," he concludes.
