Veteran Bollywood actor Farooque Sheikh. PHOTO: IANS
MUMBAI: Veteran Bollywood actor Farooque Sheikh died of a sudden cardiac arrest in Dubai late Friday, his long-time co-star and friend Deepti Naval said.
"I don't have the details yet, and I have not been able to speak to any of his family members, but a friend confirmed it to me. I also spoke to Shabana Azmi who was also aware of the sad, shocking and unbelievable news," Naval told IANS.
Sheikh is known for his roles in "Chashme Budoor", "Saath Saath" among others.
"It is unbelievable. I am in a state of shock. He is one of the finest actors in the film industry. He is the one who has always encouraged me to work," a teary Naval told IANS.
"I just got a call from Shabana Azmi. She said he had a massive heart attack in Dubai. They will be getting his body to India. I am in Himachal right now. I am flying back to Mumbai," she said.
She said that his body will be brought to Mumbai for the last rites after completing the relevant formalities in Dubai.
Sheikh, 65, was reported to be in a fit condition and had interacted with Naval two months ago at the Sharjah book fair.
She recalled the promise she and the late actor had made, and said: "After our last film Listen Amaya, Farooque and I had promised to each other that we will work together again and there were many films in the pipeline. We had decided to be in touch in terms of work."
Born March 25, 1948, Sheikh started his Bollywood career in 1973 with the classic "Garm Hava" and later excelled in both parallel and mainstream cinema.
Over the years, he became known for his roles in many notable movies, including Satyajit Ray's "Shatranj Ke Khiladi", "Umrao Jaan", "Kissise Na Kehna", "Noorie", and "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani" in which he played Ranbir Kapoor's father. He was last seen in Club 60.
Sheikh is renowned for his immense contribution to parallel cinema, low-budget high quality movies, theatre and television - the last medium where he hosted a popular talk show, "Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai".
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Farooque had done a Urdu comedy "Khalid ki Khaala". Together with Yunus Parvez he created a riot of laughter in it.. Strangely this play is never counted or mentioned amongst his masterpieces.
@Hussain Syed:
Please stop using this "Subcontinent" or "South Asia" card whenever you feel like. I've seen this with Pakistanis lately and a lot of us Indians are very uncomfortable with it.
Your "imaginary piece of paper" line is a very opportunistic one. I don't see Indians claiming Rahat Fateh Ali Khan as "South Asian".
A brilliant actor who was admired across the film and television fraternity. Really a sudden and shocking loss for the country.May the soul of Farooq sahab RIP.
@BruteForce: who cares? do you really let an imaginary line on a piece of paper define who a person is? how unintelligent and philistine.
RIP.....you'll be missed....what a tragic loss to the Indian film industry...
Innalillahe Wa Inna Elayhee Rajiun
I remember him due to the funny shows he did notably Aaha and Chamatkar from 1990s. He was a versatile actor and one of the defining icons of Indian parallel cinema. The two shows are memories from my childhood.
Moreover I had a chance to personally see him during a Mushaira in Muscat in 2002. There he made just an introductory speech before the event started and talked about Ghazal,and the tragic events that had taken place in the state of Gujarat. The Mushaira had got poets from both sides of the Indo-Pak border.
Last week we had these debates about Bollywood on ET blogs after an article from Garga Chatterjee. Few of us (waterbottle, myself) took the view that Bollywood is full of crap. I am of the opinion that Bollywood is a thing of past, with most of the greats fading away. Farooque (though not counted amongst the greats) was someone who tried to steer clear of masala films and his death has further accentuated the downfall of Bollywood. R.I.P. Farooque... Thanks for the good moments you provided us through your movies...
A brilliant actor. Sir you will be missed. RIP
... Saw this movie "Lahore" couple of days back, where Farooque plays a role of a Hyderabadi (Deccan), Indian Boxing coach.. He plays the role very well and his hyderabadi Hindi/urdu was the best... RIP Mr Sheikh, Your fans in India & around the world will miss you..
Saw this movie "Lahore" couple of days back, where Farooque plays a role of a Hyderabadi (Deccan), Indian Boxing coach.. He plays the role very well and his hyderabadi Hindi/urdu was the best... RIP Mr Sheikh, Your fans in India & around the world will miss you..
He along with naseruddhin shah, om puri, shabana azmi & a few others were the pioneers of parallel cinema in the 80's. My favourite film of the 80's is his chashme badoor. RIP sir, you will be greatly missed.
RIP sir you will be missed
I used to love his movies ! They were good, simple and a lot of fun. RIP Mr.Sheikh !!
Sad news. He was one of the few good actors left in Bollywood's otherwise theatre of the absurd. I will miss him dearly. Rest in peace.
A very gifted and versatile actor and theatre personality. He preferred small budget movies with social themes and messages rather than big budget masala movies with overpaid heroes. Art was the be all and end all of his life. As a man and actor he was devoted to his craft, not a love for money. A man always ready to work free to spread a message, or for any good cause. Pray the Almighty gives strength to his family to bear this irrepairable loss. May his Soul rest in Peace !
A great artist and an even greater human being.
@sabi:
Subcontinent?
You mean India. Please do not use the word subcontinent, when you actually meant India. Its like calling Marlon Brando a North American actor.
He is an Indian actor, an Indian Artist, he performed for Indian audiences.
He had great contributions to entertainment industry in subcontinent. RIP.