I first met Satish at the recording of Prem Parbat (1973). He is a thin, fair youth with an air of aloofness about him, holding an unmistakable resemblance to Sanjay. Like most newcomers to the world of arc lights, Satish seemed half hopeful, half fearful of his future. Would the producers sign him up? Would he impress the masses? Would he really click? These were questions that confronted him squarely.
Hardly a year has passed ever since. And Satish finds himself better placed in films. He has already bagged lead assignments in half a dozen films. Producers have accepted him. With his Prem Parbat due for release, Satish is now awaiting the invaluable verdict of the masses.
Satish has a very significant role, though not a lead one, in Warrant (1975), being directed by Pramod Chakravarty. He plays a convict sentenced to death. Dev Anand is the gaoler. Dev watches a woman who comes to see Satish. She comes with her husband, but makes him wait outside. She meets Satish. But they meet in silence. There is no exchange of words. The scene baffles the gaoler who learns the stunning truth in the end.
Satish Kaul also stars in Dilip Dutt's Dawat (1974) being directed by B. R. Ishara. He is playing opposite three girls, Jayshree Gadkar, Sarita and Pramodini. His other starrers are, Kavita Enterprises' untitled venture (with Neetu Singh in the feminine lead) Filmbar Productions’ untitled venture opposite Yogeeta Bali, Zar Productions’ Darling opposite Radha Saluja, Mulaqat with Rehana Sultan as the heroine and Ang Se Ang Laga Le (1974).
This last mentioned film, Ang Se Ang Laga Le is Satish's first film in fact. Interestingly enough, when he signed this film, he was a student of photography at the Film & Television Institute of India. It happened like this:
Shiv Kumar, the producer of Ang Se Ang Laga Le, came to the Institute looking for a new face. He spotted Satish from among the lot.
UNEXPECTED TURN
“But I am doing my course in photography,” a somewhat confused Satish told the producer, who was offering him a break as the hero of his film. The producer told Satish about the role he had got in his film for him and asked him to consider his proposal. Satish took it up. The youth, who would have been behind the camera otherwise, came and stood before it.
Satish rightly feels that his training in cinematography has not gone waste. On the contrary, with the knowledge of the movements of the camera and its tremendous sensitivity, he feels, he is able to do better justice to his portrayals. As for the roles, Satish likes them if they are emotional ones: He likes to portray conflict. As he says: “We all have to face conflicts someway or the other. We have conflicts of ideas, of values and so on. We have conflicts with colleagues and friends. But more interesting is our conflict with ourselves. It is this - one’s internal conflict - that I would like to portray. It has so much scope for vivid portraiture.