Gujju
Posted on: October 25, 2026
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Hullo Atuldom
Satish Ravilal Shah was known for his iconic roles which were steeped in comedy. The roles he chose were not of comic characters but ones that ended up being comic because of the situations the characters landed themselves in. The professor he played in ‘Main Hoon Na’ (2004) was not a cartoon but the way he spoke and the spit-spray accompanying his dialogues made the scenes hilarious. He played Saif Ali Khan’s sweet, cute, roly-poly father in ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ (2003), there was no comedy in that. There was a scene, actually a snippet, where along with Ketki Dave (who played his wife) he is shown welcoming his to-be daughter-in-law’s family with a rhyme that is a description of the Gujrati community. Both, Ketaki Dave & Satish Shah didn’t flinch while enacting that scene, I have read somewhere that, the duo actually enjoyed themselves.
Satish Shah was born in Bombay in June 1951, to parents who were originally from Gujrat. He was an alumni of St. Xavier’s college of Mumbai. Post that he went on to Film and Television Institute of India for getting formal training in acting, graduating from there in 1976. If I remember right, I have read or heard some interview of the actor, where he has said that editor/ filmmaker David Dhawan, Kundan Shah, Satish Kaushik, were at the FTII in the same period. He was seen in roles, that were not comic, in ‘Arvind Desai ki Ajeeb Dastaan’ (1978). ‘Gaman’ (1979), ‘Umrao Jaan’ (1981), ‘Albert Pinto Ku Gussa Kyon Aata Hai’ (1981), ‘Shakti’ (1982) etc.; in fact in ‘Shakti’ he played a goon who eve-teases Smita Patil in a Mumbai Local train and gets beaten by Amitabh Bachchan. It was only post ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’ (1983) that filmmakers recognised his comic timing and then, as they say, ‘THERE WAS NO LOOKING BACK’ He was signed up by Kundan Shah for ‘Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi’ in 1984 where he played 55 different characters in 55 episodes. ‘Filmy Chakkar’, ‘Ghar Jamai’ (with R. Madhavan playing his ‘jamai), ‘All The Best’ just followed ‘Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi’. The cult classic ‘Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai’ in 2004 (which was not well received initially,) made him everyone’s favourite father-in-law as the serial gathered steam. He is best remembered as “Indravadhan Sarabhai” which was a standout among the hundreds of characters he played in his three decade long career.
Satish Shah passed away last year on 25th october (a few days after veteran comedian Asrani’s passing) of cardiac arrest sending his fans and the film industry into grief and shock. His legacy lives on through the countless characters he portrayed, the laughter he spread, and the love he earned from fans and peers alike.
“Kal Ho Naa Ho” (Tomorrow may never come) was one of Yash Johar’s last productions under his Dharma Productions banner. It was written by Karan Johar & Niranjan Iyengar and directed by Nikhil Advani (in his directorial debut). It had Preity Zinta – Saif Ali Khan – Shahrukh Khan leading a cast of Jaya Bachchan, Sushma Seth, Shoma Anand, Reema Lagoo, Lillete Dubey, Ketki Dave, Sulbha Arya, Rajpal Yadav, Dara Singh and Satish Shah. The film had Kajol, Rani Mukherjee, Sanjay Kapoor, Sonali Bendre, Simone Singh and Anaita Shroff Adajania in guest appearances. Farah Khan, Karan Johar and Uday Chopra made uncredited appearances in the film.
The film had seven songs written by Javed Akhtar & composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Sonu Nigam, Sadhana Sargam, Shankar Mahadevan, Sujata Bhattacharya, Udit Narayan, Loy Mendonsa, KK, Shaan, Vasundhara Das, Alka Yagnik & Richa Sharma were the voices used for the songs. But I am not sure as to who’s voice has been used in today’s song/ snippet. For some reason, I feel it is Ketki Dave & Satish Shah themselves who have sung it.
Remembering Satish Shah today with this jovial sequence from “Kal Ho Naa Ho” (Tomorrow may never come). Hope it brings a smile on our lips.
Song-Gujju (Kal Ho Na Ho)(2003) Singers-Chorus, Lyricist-Javed Akhtar, MD-Shankar Ehsan Loy
Lyrics :
HaddippaOne two three
what a community
saaf dil mein kaho
Have the best jewellery
But who are we
Yes, who are we
kon chi apre
We ee ee ee
G
U
J
J
U
G
U
J
J
U
G
Ganthiya
U
Undhiyu
J
Jamwa
J
arre Jamnagar
UUUUUUUuuuuuu
G
U
J
J
U
G
U
J
J
U
Gujju
Gujju
Rohit
And
Naina
We
Are
Proud
Of
You
Gujju!
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