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New Delhi: In the history of Indian cinema, there have been some actors who created a distinct identity with their acting and simplicity. One of them was Farooq Sheikh, who was born on 25 March 1948 in Amroli, Surat district of Gujarat. He started his career at a time when a new stream of parallel cinema was taking shape in cinema and Farooq Sheikh emerged as one of the prominent faces of this stream.

Farooq Shaikh was educated in Mumbai. After completing his schooling from St. Mary’s School, he joined St.

His first film Garm Havathi was made by director MS Sathyu. This film is considered an important film of Indian New Wave cinema. Based on the story of Ismat Chughtai, this film shows in a very sensitive manner the struggle and identity crisis of a Muslim family in the post-partition era. In this film, he had veteran actors like Balraj Sahni with him and for this film, he got a fee of only seven hundred and fifty rupees.

After Garm Hawa, Farooq Shaikh did not look back. He worked under the direction of Satyajit Ray in the film Shatranj Ke Khiladi, which also gave him international recognition. After this, his performance in Gaman was very impressive in which he played the role of a taxi driver who struggles in Mumbai and ultimately is unable to return to his home. This character is still present in the hearts of the audience.

Farooq Sheikh was not only an actor but also an excellent anchor. He hosted quiz shows on radio and gained popularity in every household through Doordarshan’s programs Yuva Darshan and Young World. His sweet voice and simple style were very much liked by the audience.

His films include many memorable films like Noorich, Chashme BuddurKatha, Saath Saath, Kisi Se Na Kehna, Arang Birangi, Ek Pal, Anjuman Faasle and Bazaar. Of these, Chashme Buddur was especially loved by the audience and became one of his most popular films.

Farooq Sheikh’s film career was active from 1977 to 1989, after which he started working in television and made his presence felt on TV from 1988 to 2000. Later in 2008, he once again returned to films and showed his talent by working in films like Lahore, Jawaani Hai Deewani, Shanghai and Club 60.

The kind of characters played by Farooq Shaikh throughout his career were very close to reality and he gave a new direction to cinema with his acting. He died of a heart attack in Dubai on 28 December 2013, but the impression of his acting and simplicity is still alive in the hearts of cinema lovers.