Satish Shah

Satish Shah was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, on 25 June 1951. His father's family was from Mandvi, Gujarat.^[2] He did his schooling at New Era School in Mumbai and then completed his graduation from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.^[3] He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, where he received formal training in acting.^[4]

Shah graduated from Film and Television Institute of India in 1976.^[5] He was known for his roles in the 1984 sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha, where he played 55 different characters in 55 episodes, and the character of Prakash in the television serial Zee TV - Filmy Chakkar in 1995, who he played in 50 episodes.^[6][7] He also starred in the 2004 television show Sarabhai vs Sarabhai as Indravadhan Sarabhai. In both Filmy Chakkar and Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, his pairing was opposite Ratna Pathak Shah.^[8] In 1997, he played the lead role in Ghar Jamai for 80 episodes along with the serial All The Best with Swaroop Sampat for 109 episodes for DD2.^{[citation needed]}

He played the role of Municipal Commissioner D'Mello in the 1984 movie Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro directed by Kundan Shah. Considered to be primarily a comedian, he has portrayed various character roles in his career throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, starting with his first movie Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan in 1978. Apart from his career in Bollywood, he was also a judge of the Comedy Circus.

Satish Shah married designer Madhu Shah in 1982. The couple had no children however.^[9]

In January 2023, while on a trip to UK, Shah posted a tweet on X, describing the staff at Heathrow Airport questioning on how Shah could afford a first class seat, to which he replied with a proud smile "because we are Indians".^[10] While several twitter users praised Shah for standing up to this remark, many twitter users criticized the racist behavior of the airport staff, and the official X account of Heathrow Airport responded to Shah's tweet with an apology of the encounter.^[11]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Satish Shah was diagnosed with COVID-19. He was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai on 20 July and discharged on 28 July after making a full recovery.^[12]

On 25 October 2025, Shah died of cardiac arrest at the age of 74.^[13] He was cremated the same day, and numerous celebrities attended his last rites^[14][15] His co-stars and producers of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai sang the title song of the show as a tribute to him during his cremation.^[16]