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Satish Shah, who recently passed away at 74, leaves behind a legacy that's inextricably woven into India’s comic and cultural fabric. From Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’s unforgettable D’Mello to Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’s mischievous Indravadan, his humour was distinct yet timeless, intelligent yet warm, subtle yet sharp; reminding India that laughter could be both art and empathy.
When Satish Shah passed away on October 25, 2025, at the age of 74, India didn’t just lose a beloved actor — it lost a man whose humour quietly shaped its pop-culture consciousness. There are some actors who shine without the limelight, the ones who embolden films by virtue of their mere presence — and Shah was one of them.
An FTII alumnus, his role as the corrupt Municipal Commissioner D’Mello in Kundan Shah’s 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' (1983) remains one of Indian cinema’s greatest comic creations. The film, made on a shoestring budget of about ₹8 lakh, was not an immediate success. Shah was famously paid in tiny instalments of ₹50–100, and even had to buy tickets for its premiere. But over time, the film gained cult status for its biting critique of bureaucracy and corruption in politics and journalism. I watched this film for the first time in tenth grade (and have rewatched it many times since), and every time Shah comes on screen, he makes you laugh and squirm at his larger-than-life, blatantly nefarious D’Mello. Satish Shah fortified his place in cinema history by lying motionless in a coffin — watch the movie, if you haven’t, to understand the reference.
Two decades later, Shah found himself in every Indian living room as the mischievous patriarch Indravadan Sarabhai in 'Sarabhai vs Sarabhai' from 2004 to 2006. His 'Indu' (as his on-screen wife Maya would call him, in moments of both endearment and condescension) — sardonic, sarcastic, and endearingly flawed — stood at the centre of one of India’s most intelligent sitcoms. The show deftly toed the line between the obvious and the subtle, exploring the class contradictions of Indian urban society at the time. As more people gravitated towards cities, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai portrayed a family grappling with that cultural shift. More than any other TV character of the era, Indravadan captured the contradictions of Indian urban life — wealthy yet restless; cultured yet childish. Shah’s Indravadan wasn't just funny, he was familiar.
In an age of spectacle and star power, Satish Shah’s fame was quieter but far more enduring. Starring in films like Kal Ho Na Ho (2003) and Om Shanti Om (2007), he wasn’t the kind of actor who demanded attention; he earned it by being irreplaceably good. His characters — whether lying dead in a coffin or laughing at his wife’s snobbery — have become part of India’s collective memory.
Even today, snippets of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai are regular features on social media. Memes of Indravadan’s smug expressions and one-liners are shared by people who were, like me, too young to have seen the show on TV when it first aired. That’s perhaps the truest measure of cultural impact — when your work lives on for far longer than you do. It's a form of imortality that is typically only reserved for the best of us and Satish Shah was, without question, one of our very best.
You can watch 'Sarabhai vs Sarabhai' on Disney+ Hotstar.
