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Whoever knew Satish Shah always claimed he was exactly like Indravadan Sarabhai — funny, witty, and full of life. And so, when it came time to bid him farewell, his friends decided he didn’t deserve a tearful goodbye, but a cheerful celebration. Recently, Ratna Pathak Shah, who played his on-screen wife in the iconic sitcom Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, recalled how Satish perhaps chose to hide his deeper emotions, saying, “Sometimes it is necessary to cry, but he never wanted to go down that road.”
In a conversation with The Hindu, Ratna fondly spoke about the late actor’s prayer meet, which, much like his personality, was filled with music, laughter, and joy — clips of which have been going viral on social media.
“Satish deserved it,” she said. “He didn’t deserve weeping or mourning, or people crying about how things were or should have been. He certainly didn’t need any weepy bhajans. So, what the Sarabhai gang decided — and I wholeheartedly approved — was that we should celebrate Satish. His was a life lived to the fullest. He took everything life threw at him with great courage and humour. That’s what was special about him.”
Ratna also reminisced about shooting a memorial episode for their beloved show years ago. “Satish led that pack and it was a fun episode,” she smiled. “It’s not fun to see Satish go, but I guess his memorial this time was also filled with laughter — and we made Madhu smile. That was the best part.”
Speaking about his personality, Ratna said Satish was “not just funny on screen — he was exactly like that off screen too.” Yet, she believes there was another side of him that he rarely revealed.
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“I felt Satish maybe didn’t let his other side come out, even to himself. He probably never acknowledged that there was more to life than humour and smiling through everything. Sometimes it’s necessary to sit and cry — and I don’t think Satish ever allowed himself that. Maybe he did with Madhu, because she was with him every step of the way.”
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Ratna recalled one rare moment when she saw Satish deeply shaken. “The only time I saw him shattered was when Madhu fell ill long ago and needed blood transfusions. All of us rushed to the hospital then. That was the only time we saw a Satish who wasn’t the cheerful one he showed the world. But maybe that wasn’t an act — maybe that was just his way of dealing with life. I told him a couple of times that he should look deeper within himself, but he wasn’t keen on going down that road.”
Speaking about the bond between Satish and his wife Madhu, Ratna described it as truly one of a kind. “I haven’t seen a partnership like theirs. They were like two peas in a pod — so similar, so in sync. They worked perfectly well with each other. She supported him, understood him, and laughed with him.”
For Ratna, Satish’s passing felt deeply personal. “I have seen many friends go. He wasn’t the first, but something inside all of us changed that day. The Sarabhai cast was truly a family — and I never realised how much of a family we were until the day he left us.”
Satish Shah passed away on October 25 at the age of 74, reportedly due to kidney failure.
