We live in a world where everyone wants to be a little more than what they are, a little extra. But most of us only recognise an opportunity on its way out. Here is a story of a man who not only saw these opportunities when they were ripe but also welcomed them into his life; a story of a man who played many roles in real life and post retirement plays many roles in his reel life; a story of a man who doesn’t tire and refuses to retire.
This is the story of Satinder Chawla.
Mr. Chawla was born and raised in India. Growing up, he was passionate about sports and extracurricular activities. He rose to the rank of Camp Commander during his time in the National Cadet Corps - a military cadet corps in India comprising Army, Navy and Airforce that gives basic military training to students. He was an outstanding student and won several inter-school competitions and started very early in a career in banking when he joined Punjab and Sind Bank. In fact, he was the youngest among his colleagues; full of life and energy, he always felt he could do more than his regular job. He took interest in various sports and started to play at competitive level, and represented the bank as a badminton player and won many accolades. As years went by, he rose to become the face of Public Relationship Management in his role at the bank. One would think that now was the time to bear fruits of all the hard work, but Mr. Chawla’s tale was just beginning.
After 25 years of service, he took a voluntary retirement (Golden Handshake) from his bank job, despite not being of a retiree’s age and assisted his wife Jaswinder Chawla in her school uniforms business. Using his learning from former family business of forest timber and leveraging his PR experience, Mr Chawla and his wife expanded the business to new heights catering to multiple schools and corporate firms.
“My wife would be my boss in office as well as home (laughs). I am lucky to have Jaswinder in my life,” said Mr. Chawla.
As time passed, both his sons immigrated and settled in Melbourne, Australia. Mr Chawla and his wife decided to sell their business and migrate too, so they could be near their family. Again, one would think that having moved to a foreign land, nearing a retirement age and with kids settled, Mr Chawla would look to take it easy. But destiny, and Mr Chawla, had other plans. He decided to restart his career with volunteer work.
“I used to go to airport (for volunteer work). I was volunteering in all communities. Victoria Sikh Gurdwara Council, Australia Sikh support. Whoever needs my help I am always there,” said Mr. Chawla.
At the airport, he volunteered at customer care and won volunteer awards for his work. He created a good rapport with other volunteers and staff members, and when an opportunity came along to work at the duty free store, he grabbed it with both hands. His bosses recognised him as an asset, and Mr. Chawla proved to be just that, giving his best at his senior age.
Mr. Chawla shared a story of an elderly lady who got her bag exchanged with someone else’s at the airport. She came back to the airport distressed, looking for her bag and approached Mr. Chawla. He left no stone unturned to help find her bag which carried her valuables. Quickly, she pulled out a gold chain as a reward for him. On this gesture by the lady, Mr. Chawla told her that seeing her relieved and smiling was the only reward he needed.
Owing to his popularity in the community, one day he was approached to play the role of a father in a 13-minute short film. Obviously, Mr. Chawla said YES!! Although he had no experience as an actor, his work in the Australian short film Strings was impressive and he was offered to work in an Australian Hindi feature film, The Hidden Truth.
Satinder Chawla at the Docklands Studio. Image Credit: Satinder Chawla
His family was very supportive of his career move.
“My wife says when we got married, ‘from the first day, I am watching you as an actor’,” he laughed.
This was the start of a new chapter in his life and so far he has worked in close to 80 movies and short films. He has worked with Australian, UK and US based film crews. He likes to work on social message-oriented themes, and some of his movies have also won awards, like the short film Haluna won an award at Virasat International Film Festival and Nishchay Kar Apni Jeet Karu won an award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in 2016. Mr. Chawla has also won a Best Actor award for the movie Karma at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.
Last year his movie Maa Sadke was the first movie from Australia to premiere worldwide on PTC Box Office, PTC Punjabi, a Punjabi Television Network. Maa Sadke was nominated in six categories at the PTC Digital Award Night in March 2022, and Satinder Chawla won the award for the most emotional scene in the movie.
“I used to watch award ceremonies on TV. I used to admire actors like Dharmendra and today, see awards are lying in front of me!” said Mr Chawla
Now Jaswinder Chawla, his wife, has also joined him as an actor and producer.
“She is the backbone. I always used to act in front of her, rehearse with her and asked her about my expressions and dialogue delivery. She has been very supportive and my whole family has been too,” added Mr Chawla.
Australia presented Mr Chawla with another opportunity, one to bring Indian and Sikh communities closer and to connect them with their roots. Leaning on his experience and interest in sports, he used badminton as a medium to bring people together and became the founder and president of Landmark Community Sports Club (LCSC) in Melbourne. And not just this, as a Badminton Victoria Coach, Mr. Chawla is passing on his expertise to emerging players in the sport.
When the pandemic started, Mr Chawla unfortunately lost his Melbourne Airport job after ten years of employment. But Mr Chawla is not the one to stop. During lockdown, he engaged in home-based productions and worked in 17 short films made in Melbourne. These films were created to bring awareness and positivity amongst people. Each film carried a social message. While serving as an independent member of the Victorian Sikh Gurudwara Council, Mr. Chawla donated more of his time to charitable causes and helped those in need. He got kids involved in an online event, Chain of Prayers, which lasted for over 100 days.
A down to earth and humble person, Mr Chawla has attributed all his success to the Almighty and says that he did not really plan anything and God has been kindly guiding him in all paths of life. He also extended his thanks to his family.
“Now my passion is volunteering for community services, sports and movies,” said Mr. Chawla
His energy and enthusiasm are contagious, and it wouldn't be surprising if he continued to go on to new adventures and add many more pleats to his already impressive turban.
Manmeet Uppal Kohli is a Melbourne-based freelance content producer and journalist. You can get in touch with her on LinkedIn.
