[tps_footer]In the wee hours of December 28, 2013, when the world was sleeping Farooq Sheikh passed away in Dubai where he was on a holiday with his family after suffering a sudden heart attack at the age of sixty-five. His body will be brought to Mumbai later in the day after formalities have been completed in Dubai.

Farooq Sheikh was the everyman on celluloid. With a series of films he brought out the middle class urban youth on the screen. Be it Noorie or Umrao Jaan, Chashme Buddoor or Shatranj Ke Khiladi or even the very recent Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani where he essayed the role of Ranbir Kapoor’s father, the man left his mark in every role he reprised.

Farooq Sheikh started his career in 1973 with Garm Hava, and his last performance in Bollywood Club 60 opposite Sarika, where he essayed the role of Dr. Tariq Sheikh who cannot come to terms with the fact that his son has been killed in a freak shoot out in the US.

In the late 90s, Farooq Sheikh acted in a number of television serials. Chamatkar on Sony Entertainment Television and Ji Mantriji on Star Plus are among the few. The last television show that Farooq Sheikh was a part of was Do Dil Ek Jaan on Life OK. He was even a very active theatre personality. His play Tumhari Amrita that stars Shabana Azmi along with him and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan still runs a houseful.

Farooq Sheikh once said, “Mughal-e-Azam is as much about young Salim and Anarkali as it is about old Akbar. Gandhi is essentially about an old man who led a country to freedom. I always say the backbone of a film is its storyline, if it falls flat even a spritely young man can’t make it run.”

Farooq Sheikh is survived by his wife Rupa Jain and two daughters, Shaista, Sanaa.[/tps_footer]