The guns fell silent at the rifle shooting range at Worli Sea Face on Sunday, October 26, as shooters struggled to come to terms with actor Satish Shah’s death on October 25. Sheila Kanungo, secretary-general, Maharashtra Rifle Association (MRA), said, echoing the MRA top brass sentiment in Mumbai, “His shadow falls long over this shooting range. Years earlier, he was a regular here and quite adept at ‘big bore’ shooting. He did well at the sport, but I guess he could not give it time because of acting commitments. He may not have been at the range too often of late, but he was a larger-than-life presence here. The comedian-actor found his target, whether on the range or on a film set.”
(From left) Chandrakant Pujari with Uddhav Thackeray at the Worli shooting range. PIC/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Ashok Pandit, MRA president, said, “Shah was a true lover of guns. Take him to look at a gun collection, and his eyes would start twinkling like a kid in a candy shop.” Pandit remembered, “His shooting aside, it was his laugh that boomed loudest at the shooting range. He was great at mimicry. As a fine actor, he could copy how the champions would shoot, too. Then, he made his mark big-time (pun intended) in the acting world too,” said Pandit.
Chandrakant Pujari, the MRA vice-president, rewound to academia. Pujari said, “Satish Shah was my classmate at St Xavier’s College in Mumbai. He always had the gift of making people laugh. He eventually left college to study acting. Initially, he did not get a break. Then, I think he got a role in television, and of course, after that, his acting career zoomed.”
Pujari recalled, “I think the last I saw Shah at the shooting range was a year ago. His association with shooting goes back to 1978, though. We had one Capt Ezekiel — coach and in-charge of the Worli range. Capt coached Satish Shah and was very friendly with him too. Shah proved that actors can do both, give a box office hit and hit the bull`s eye too.”
