File photo of Farooq Sheikh
Actor Farooq Sheikh, who died after a massive heart attack in Dubai on Friday, was buried this evening in Mumbai. He was 65.
The actor's body was brought to Mumbai earlier in the evening from Dubai. The actor is survived by his wife Roopa and two daughters.
Born on March 25, 1948, Farooq Sheikh, a theatre actor, was 25 when he began his Bollywood career with a role in the 1973 classic
Garm Hava.
He soon became a prominent part of parallel cinema in India, though he also continued to act and excel in mainstream cinema.
His roles in classics like Satyajit Ray's
Shatranj Ke Khiladi,
Umrao Jaan and
Bazaar earned him critical fame. At the same time, his boy-next-door appeal and comic timing in films like
Chashme Buddoor and
Katha found universal appeal.
His co-star in
Chashme Buddoor and many other films, Deepti Naval, told NDTV, "He was the most natural actor I have worked with. In the nine films, we did together, I never caught him preparing for his role."
Farooq Sheikh worked with top directors in his 40-year-career in Bollywood. He also made an immense contribution to low-budget high quality movies, theatre and television. He hosted a popular talk show,
Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai for Zee TV, eleven years ago.
Shabana Azmi, one of the pillars of parallel cinema in India, said, "Its difficult for me to speak about Farooq in the past tense. It seems that it's a grammatical error. Farooq, inspite of being a quiet person, could fill in the room with his humor and wit."
His last Bollywood release was Club 60, earlier this month. He also played Ranbir Kapoor's father in
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, one of the top grossers of 2013.