Mumbai, 28 December 2013

Veteran actor Farooq Sheikh died after suffering a heart attack on late Friday night in Dubai. He was 65. The actor was in Dubai apparently for a concert.

Farooq’s body will be brought to Mumbai later in the day after completing the formalities in Dubai.

Born on March 25, 1948, in small village called Amroli in Vadodara district of Gujarat Sheikh made a tremendous contribution in theatre, films and TV as well. He was the eldest of five children. His father, Mustafa Shaikh, was a practising lawyer in Bombay and his mother, Farida Shaikh, was a housewife. Farooq’s wife Rupa is Gujarati woman from Jain community.

Farooque Shaikh made his debut as an actor some 32 years ago in the MS Sathyu-directed classic Garam Hawa. Soon to follow was an immensely successful romantic film, Noorie. Although the following years saw him achieve moderate success in a number of offbeat films, real stardom remained elusive. Not that he chased after it. One can never forget his wonderfully inspired performance in the hit comedy Chashme Baddoor, which was to pave the way for his later roles in sitcoms on television.

Farooq started his career on TV with a serious role in Shrikaanth which was Sarat Chandra’s autobiographical novel. Even after that he did a serious drama – Aakhri Daao – with Deepti Naval.

Foundations of Farooq’s journey in entertainment world were in his amateurish stage performances in school and college. While in college he was associated with the Indian Peoples’ Theatre Association (IPTA) where MS Sathyu was a senior director. While casting for his film – Garam Hawa – Sathyu offered him a role which he readily accepted and that’s how his acting career started. He actually did not actually intend to be a professional actor. In fact,he was a qualified lawyer.

His last film was Club 60 and before that he was seen playing the role of a father to Ranbir Kapoor in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.

Recalling his speech at Sadbhavana parva in Gujarat

In year 2010, speaking at Sadbhavna parva organized by Morari Bapu, Farooq Sheikh speaking about his childhood experiences in Vadodara district village said: No one had clock at home in our village. There was a railway track near our house. Trains would pass through at regular interval. When morning train passed, mother would ask us to wake up. We would be asked to sit and have a lunch when afternoon train passed. After evening train we would visit station in bullock cart and if there was someone left at the station we would carry them to our place and offer dinner. We would consider them as a guest of village and offer them night halt too without asking about their caste or background.