Farooq Shaikh View Biography 91 Views

Born on March 25, 1948, there was something zamindari about Farooq Sheikh. After all he was born in to a family of zamindars. The man who did not quite make it in the field of law went on to become one of the most appreciated and popular actors on stage, TV and film from the late 60s.

His interest in theatre started from his college days at St Xavier’s, Mumbai where his friends were Sunil Gavaskar, Shabana Azmi and later to be his wife, Roopa. From the college stage he moved on to doing plays for IPTA and got his first break in Garam Hawa.

Farooq was initially an automatic choice for directors who were in to parallel cinema and he featured in Gaman, Noorie, Chashme Buddoor, Umrao Jaan and many others. While Chashme Buddoor still continues to be a popular billing even today, it was in seventies that he was offered a role of Aqueel in Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj ke Khiladi.

Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval formed a wonderful screen pair and between them they featured in 9 films. In an interview with The Indian Express, Deepti Naval had said: He was always quiet, happy with his books (he was a voracious reader, as I am sure everybody knows about him). He was a famous prankster too, forever teasing somebody or the other and I was always at the receiving end because he would keep playing pranks on me.

Sheikh won the National Film Award for the Best Supporting Actor for Lahore.

Farooq Sheikh continued his presence on stage, the most notable being the iconic Tumhari Amrita. His presence in TV serials like Shrikant and Ji Mantri Ji was remarkable successes.

He also hosted a TV show, Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai, where he interviewed Bollywood celebrities.

In his death in 2013 in Dubai, we lost one of the most talented performers and a great human being who was involved with polio eradication programmes in his individual capacity.