Satish Kaushik & Saeed Jaffrey Movies Together List — 5 Films

The shape of the work

The 1980s account for 80% of everything they made together. The 1980s belonged to Masoom; the 1990s to Prem. Satish Kaushik acted in every film; Saeed Jaffrey acted in all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Saeed Jaffrey was the one who pushed for Satish Kaushik to play the role of the house help in Masoom (1983). Kaushik was then an assistant director, not an actor. Jaffrey told director Shekhar Kapur, 'He's perfect for it.' That scene where he gets slapped by Naseeruddin Shah? That was Kaushik's first ever acting role.
• In Ram Lakhan (1989), Jaffrey played the corrupt politician and Kaushik played his sidekick. Kaushik later said Jaffrey would deliberately flub his lines in rehearsals to make Kaushik laugh, then nail the take in one go. It was Jaffrey's way of keeping Kaushik loose — because Kaushik tended to over-rehearse and get stiff.
• After Masoom, Jaffrey became a kind of informal acting coach for Kaushik. They would meet at Jaffrey's Bandra flat and read scenes from plays. Kaushik later said Jaffrey taught him one thing: 'Don't act the emotion. Act the action that causes the emotion.' Kaushik used that advice in every film he directed.
• Satish Kaushik on Saeed Jaffrey: 'He was the only actor who could make me forget my lines just by looking at me. And then he'd say, 'Beta, tension mat lo. Yeh toh comedy hai.' That was our rhythm.'
• Their pairing in Masoom (1983) directly led to Kaushik being cast in Mr. India (1987) as Calendar. Jaffrey recommended him to Shekhar Kapur again. Without that recommendation, there's no 'Calendar, Calendar, Calendar' — and no iconic comic sidekick role that launched Kaushik's acting career.