Veteran actor Farooq Sheikh dies in Dubai

Veteran actor Farooq Sheikh, best known for his memorable performances in films like “Garm Hava”, “Shatranj Ke Khiladi”, “Chashme Buddoor”, “Umrao Jaan” and “Bazaar”, died after suffering a heart attack here.

“He has passed away,” a family member told PTI. The 65-year-old Bollywood actor suffered a fatal heart attack on Friday night. He was apparently here with his family for a concert.

His body will be brought to Mumbai after completing the formalities in Dubai. Sheikh was born in Amroli in Gujarat’s Baroda district. He was active in theatre before making his debut in Bollywood with M S Sathyu’s 1973 Partition drama “Garm Hawa” where he played the youngest son of Balraj Sahni.

The movie is considered a pioneer of a new wave of Hindi art cinema.

There was no looking back for Sheikh after that as he created a space for himself in active parallel cinema world of that time with his nuanced performances and went on to work with filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, Muzaffar Ali and Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
His most notable films include Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Noorie, Chashme Buddoor, Kissi Se Na Kehna, Katha, Faasle and Sagar Sarhadi’s Bazaar.

He formed a successful pair with Deepti Naval working with her in Chashme Baddoor, Kissi Se Na Kehna, Katha and most recently in Listen Amaya.

Later on 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 performace as a boxing coach.

Sheikh was equally active in the world of theatre and TV. His most famous stage play was Tumhari Amrita with Shabana Azmi, which completed 20 years in 2012.

The play, an unrequited love story read out through reams of letters, received great success. The play was a major hit in Dubai last year.

He also acted in a number of television serials like Shrikant, Chamatkar, Ji Mantriji besides hosting popular chat show Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai in which he interviewed many Bollywood celebrities.

He was married to Rupa Jain and has two daughters.

In his last interview to PTI, the actor had talked about the short life of films today and felt that the films have advanced technically, but their life span is shrinking and the writing department is not getting more attention.