Following media reports about Kaul’s condition Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh late on Monday sought a report from Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Pardeep Aggarwal.ONCE HAILED AS ‘Amitabh Bachchan of Punjabi film industry’, 73-year-old Satish Kaul has fallen on hard times with no home to live in, and no money to meet his daily expenses. Kaul, who had been living in old age homes for the past several years, has been offered shelter by a Good Samaritan, Satya Devi, at her residence in village Manakwal.
Following media reports about Kaul’s condition Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh late on Monday sought a report from Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Pardeep Aggarwal. “Sorry to learn about the condition of our iconic actor Satish Kaul ji. Asking DC Ludhiana to visit him and send me a report. The State Government will surely assist him,” Amarinder said in a tweet.
“Finally, I have been heard,” said Kaul, who has worked in over 300 Punjabi and Hindi films and in TV serials. He said so far no one from the Punjabi film industry has come forward to help him.
The actor had shifted to Punjab in 2011 after selling his apartment in Mumbai to start an acting school in Ludhiana. The project, however, failed and that’s when his financial woes started. He was forced to shift to an old-age home at Doraha. In 2014, the Punjabi University, Patiala, offered him a job at its acting school where he was offered a monthly pension of Rs 11,000 for three years. Kaul got an accommodation on University campus where in July, 2015, he fell in and suffered hip fracture.
“I remained in bed for over two years. The hospital management helped in footing my bill apart from donations by few organisations and my own savings. The pension from University stopped in 2017,” Kaul said.
After coming out of hospital, Kaul shifted to Red Cross’s old age home in Ludhiana and later to Swami Vivekananda Ashram. He has been living at Satya Devi’s house for the past two months. “He is depressed and has no means to live. This house is of my relative, which too we have to vacate,” she said.
Kaul told Ludhiana DC that he needs a house, a caretaker and money to meet his daily expenses.
The DC told media persons that he will be sending detailed report to the CM to seek assistance for Kaul. The actor, he said, also expressed his desire to work again. The DC said that he will be offered a role in the theatre department of Punjab government.
Kaul had starred in Punjabi movies such as ‘Sassi Punnu’, ‘Suhag Chooda’, ‘Fer Mamla Gadbad’, `Lachchi’, ‘Patola’. He had also worked in Hindi movies such as `Karma’, `Prem Parbhat’, ‘Gunaho ka faisla’ etc.
