The comedian and actor Satish Shah, who was considered one of the best comic actors of his time and famous for his comedic timing, passed away at the age of 74. On Saturday afternoon, his friend and filmmaker Ashoke Pandit released a video message on Instagram confirming his passing. In a video message and photo posted to Instagram, Ashoke Pandit said, “We are saddened and shocked to inform you that our dear friend and a great actor Satish Shah passed away a few hours ago due to kidney failure. He passed away after being sent to Hinduja Hospital. A huge setback for our sector. Om Shanti.”
Satish Shah started his acting career in the 1970s after being born in 1951 into a Gujarati family in what was then Bombay State. However, it wasn’t until 1984 that he became well-known thanks to Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha’s sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, in which he received praise for portraying fifty-five distinct personalities. Before reimagining his career as the endearing Indravadan Sarabhai in the cult blockbuster sitcom Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai (2004–06), he starred in sitcoms such as Filmi Chakkar and Ghar Jamai in the 1990s.
Despite having a minor role in the 1970 movie Bhagwan Parshuram, Satish Shah rose to fame ten years later for roles in Umrao Jaan and Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai. Perhaps his most famous on-screen role was that of a corpse in the comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. He played supporting parts in a number of popular movies starting in the 1990s, such as Hero No. 1, Main Hoon Na, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, and Fanaa. Humshakals, which came out in 2014, was his most recent big-screen appearance.
