Farooq Sheikh, an Indian actor

Farooq Sheikh (25 March 1948 − 28 December 2013) was an Indian actor, philanthropist and television presenter.

Early Life

Farooq Sheikh was born on 25 March 1948, in Vadodara, Gujarat. He completed his graduation from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Afterward, he completed his law degree at Siddharth College of Law. He also attended the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune.

Shaikh and Roopa met at St Xavier’s. They were active in theater and later married after nine years. He made lots of friends at St. Xavier’s, including, Sunil Gavaskar. Shabana Azmi, the actress and the daughter of noted poet Kaifi Azmi, was Roopa’s classmate at St Xavier’s.

Career

He was active in theatre in his early days, doing plays with IPTA and working with well-known directors like Sagar Sarhadi. His first major role in a film was in Garam Hawa in 1973. The actor went on to appear in several notable films such as Satyajit Ray‘s Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977), Noorie (1979), Chashme Buddoor (1981) and Kissi Se Na Kehna (1983).

He appeared in a bunch of TV series in the 80s and 90s. A TV series Kahkashan (1988) starred him in the title role as poet and freedom fighter Hasrat Mohani. He also starred in the Doordarshan TV series Shrikant from 1987 to 1991. He appeared in Life OK’s Do Dil Ek Jaan, where he played the father of the leading lady.

Sheikh and Azmi appeared together for the first time in 1992 in the play Tumhari Amrita, directed by Feroz Abbas Khan.

He acted in fewer movies in the 1990s and made his last few appearances in Lahore (2010) and Saas Bahu Aur Sensex (2008).

He hosted the very popular TV show “Jeena issi ka naam hai” where he interviewed Bollywood stars.

Contributions

His core work in Hindi films was from 1973 to 1993, and his TV work was from 1988 to 2002. In 2008, he started acting in films again and continued until his death on 28 December 2013. Most of his contributions were to Parallel Cinema or the New Indian Cinema. He worked with directors like Satyajit Ray, Sai Paranjpye, Muzaffar Ali, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Ketan Mehta.

Awards

In 2010, he won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Lahore movie.

Death

He died on 28 December 2013, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.