Deepti Naval Reminisces about Farooq Sheikh

Veteran actress Deepti Naval says the late Farooq Sheikh was a constant part of her professional and personal lives. 

On Saturday (December 28), Deepti woke up to the news that Farooq Sheikh was no more. He died of cardiac arrest in Dubai late Friday (December 27). 

"He was not just a constant part of my career but also of my life. Oh God! It's so hard to believe he's gone," said Deepti, who last interacted with Farooq two months ago at the Sharjah Book Fair. 

"We worked together for the first time in Chashme Buddoor, and we did 7-8 films together after that. Of these my favourite films are Chashme Buddoor, Saath Saath and Listen...Amaya," she said. 

Deepti remembers the 1981 film, Chashme Buddoor, directed by Sai Paranjpye, with special fondness.

"Sai Paranjpye, I, Rakesh Bedi, Ravi Baswani, Saeed Jaffrey... What a team it was! We made a film that just happened. We were all having so much fun while making it. On a flight, I saw the Chashme Buddoor remake. It did nothing to me. It had no impact. Watching the remake, I missed the original team even more. 

Now, Ravi Baswani is gone, Farooq is gone. We also did Sai's Katha together where Farooq played this incorrigible flirt. I used to tease him that in Katha he played his real self," said Deepti. 

She says Farooq was a big flirt. 

"I asked him when we got together for Listen ...Amaya, why he didn't flirt with me. When I look back at our films together, I find he was very cute and charming. And what a good-looker," she said. 

But she says with her, he had a different rapport. He would always tease her. And he would crack jokes at her expense. 

"When we worked together again in Listen....Amaya after 26 years, he was still pulling my leg. I said, 'Ab toh sudhar jao.' He was adorable. He never changed. 

The only change I saw in him during Listen...Amaya was that he would not sit with the rest of the unit after a shot. He would go back to his book. He was always reading," said Deepti. 

Deepti had plans of working with Farooq all over again.

"He had read three of my scripts. He kept prodding me to make those films. After doing Listen...Amaya, together we realized how much we missed one another. We wanted to do a play together. Now, we can never work together again," she said.

Source:http://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/deepti-naval-farooq-sheikh-was-part-of-my-career-and-life-464768

Farooq Sheikh - An Introduction

“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”
                                                                                                           William Shakespeare

Farooq Sheikh was among one of those man who has left behind a mark. He began his acting career in plays and made his debut in Indian cinema in 1973 with the classic Garam Hawa, set in post-partition India. He was best known for his films during the 1970s and 1980s. Often referred as the blue eyed boy of the parallel cinema movement, his major contribution was in Parallel Cinema or the New Indian Cinema.

He worked with critically acclaimed directors such as Satyajit Ray, Muzaffar Ali, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Ketan Mehta. It was his performance in films such as Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Chashme Buddoor, Kissi Se Na Kehna, Noorie, Bazaar, Saath Saath and Umrao Jaan that catapulted him to fame.

The unassuming actor touched the hearts of millions of Indians with roles that reflected the common man’s travails. Known for his comic timing, Sheikh performed in a range of films from comedy to classics and romance.

In a career spanning almost four decades, Sheikh's body of work is not huge as he ignored the alluring, money-spinning world of commercial cinema to focus on roles that were nearer to reality.
Sheikh was actively involved in all the genre of Indian cinema right from typical masala Bollywood movies to Theater. He has acted in many serials and shows on television and performed on stage in famous productions such as 'Tumhari Amrita', presented the TV show, 'Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai'.

In recent times, he acted in fewer films like 'Saas Bahu Aur Sensex', 'Tell Me O Khuda' and 'Lahore' for which he won the 2010 National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a boxing coach.

Being titled as a Veteran speaks bounds about Farooq Sheikh and his unique style of acting. He was a true artist; he did Art and not blockbusters.