He was often referred to as the blue-eyed boy of parallel cinema. On Saturday morning, December 28, veteran actor Farooque Shaikh (65) succumbed to a cardiac arrest while holidaying in Dubai, leaving behind a legacy of fine performances. For all his admirers and colleagues, it was a mournful weekend.
Deepti Naval, one of his closest friends was at a loss for words. She said, “We have done so many films. We started out with Chashme Buddoor. I remember we used to behave like children on the sets but Sai Paranjpye taught us how to act. I can’t believe he is no more.”
His co-star Shabana Azmi, from one of his most popular and longest running plays Tumhari Amrita, says, “Tumhari Amrita completed 21 years but Farooque never wanted to call it quits. He also never publicised his social work. He was a five-time namaz praying Muslim and his Urdu was impeccable. He was very fond of reading too.” Divya Dutta, who became a part of the play later, recalls, “Once I requested to watch him rehearse for Tumhari Amrita and he agreed. He was a charming and a gentle human being. It’s a big loss for the industry.”
Kirron Kher too remembers Farooque as a man who never made a noise about his philanthrophic pursuits. She says, “He was such a nice man. He was working for the education of the UP youth. I know he was hurt when the government was allotting Rajya Sabha seats and ignored him, without acknowledging his work. We just exchanged wishes on Christmas. Our last shoot together was for Saas Bahu Aur Sensex in Pune and he would stop by at Chembur to buy gulab jamuns from Jhamas for the unit.”
Farooque’s last film was the recently released Club 60 with Sarika, who says, “This has come as a huge shock. There was no indication that this would happen. We would keep discussing how to celebrate the success of our film. He was a big foodie and most of our conversations would be about which food joint to celebrate at. He was very dignified and had a great sense of humour. It’s very rare to find such decent people in the industry. I’m feeling so sad. I can imagine how sad our co-actor Satish Shah must be, since they have been together since college.” Yusuf Shaikh, who produced Club 60 recalls his love for sweets. “He loved sweets immensely. He would say, ‘Arre yar kha lo, mann ko kyun maar rahe ho’. He loved talking to me in Gujarati. I will miss him terribly.”
Among his younger co-stars, Jackyy Bhagnani is also shaken by the news. “I was shooting with him two days ago in Indore for Youngistaan. I used to keep telling him he is the youngest person on the sets. He had wrapped up his part of the film, as he wanted to finish his work before leaving. Maybe he knew it was coming. We have cancelled the shoot as of now as no one is in the mood after hearing this news.”
