Anupam Kher bids an emotional goodbye to Satish Kaushik in a heartfelt video letter

Anupam Kher, a veteran actor, shared a heartfelt goodbye to his friend and fellow actor-director Satish Kaushik on Thursday after he suffered a cardiac arrest. The first person to announce Satish Kaushik's passing on social media was Anupam. While Satish's body was taken to the Versova cremation in Mumbai for the funeral rites, Anupam remained by his friend's side in the ambulance. The Kashmir Files actor posted a video on Instagram a day after the actor's cremation in which he bid an emotional farewell to his friend and expressed his thoughts on coping with the loss in a moving letter.

He uploaded the video letter to social media and said: "The reason I am talking to you guys because I need to get rid of the sense of loss of my friend Satish Kaushik. And it's killing me because a 45 years old friendship is very deep. It becomes a habit which you never want to lose it. Ever since he has gone, I have been thinking where I would eat. I thought I should call Satish and I was about to pick up my phone and dial him. It's tough because 45 years is quite a bit of time to be with somebody."

He continued, "We saw our dreams together. We started off our journey together from the National School of Drama in the month of July 1975. We used to sit together, eat together. We both came to Mumbai one after another. We worked hard and reached where we are today. We tasted success, we used to get jealous and fight with each other. But we used to always call each other everyday at around 8-8.30 in the morning."

"I was not able to concentrate on my things. I don't know what to do but I have to move on. I lost my father and I moved on. We do have to move on when somebody goes away. This is what life teaches us and we have to learn also. So I thought of sharing my feelings with you guys so that I can feel better. So I need to move on. It's not like I will be able to deal with it normally but I think it's important for me to do things which will make him happy. Bada mushkil hai, koshish karta hu dosto. When I will upload this video, I will be able tell myself that I have to do things like work on scripts, deal with life and lots of things. And to make proud and jealous wherever he is. He will still feel jealous of me and will still say things like, 'Yaar tune mujhse acha kiya.'"

Anupam Kher concluded the statement with, "But he was a good man. Strength thi usme, dosto ka dost tha. To zindagi to chalti rehni chahiye. So let's take the life forward. I will hold this loss inside my heart and try to make him happy. He would want me to be happy. Mere pyare dost, Satish Kaushik. Humko ye zindagi aage badhani hai. You will always be in my heart."

To the uninitiated, Anupam Kher and Satish had been friends for 45 years and had collaborated frequently during their professional careers. The legendary actor visited Satish's family at their Mumbai residence along with other members of the Bollywood film industry to pay his respects.