END OF AN ERA. Review on Farooque Sheikh

It was Saturday, the 28th of December 2013, evening. I was hurriedly finishing my daily chores in the kitchen. Rather bored by the monotony of routine, I  switched on the radio to pep myself up with some soulful music while winding up my job. 92.7 FM is one channel after my heart - it plays all the old favourites. This time it was "Kahaan se aaye badara." that golden classic from Chashme baddoor  which never failed to moisten my eyes, followed by "Dekhlo aaj ham ko jee bhar ke." the song from Bazaar whose heartrending appeal is matchless. And then."Zindagi jab bhi teri bazm mein laati hain hamein." romance epitomized in silken https://lyrics. Little did I know that the choicest of songs would be followed by the rudest of shocks - "Hamein bahut dukh ke saath kahana pad rahaa hai ki Farooque Sheikh sahab ab hammare beech nahin rahe" - RJ Siddharth's mournful announcement . a gasp escaped involuntarily and then.an emptiness.

No, Farookh Sheikh never figured in my "too mera hero hai" kind of slot. In fact, he could never attain that status much as he would try. But he was very much a part and parcel of a time which I might today uninhibitedly call the golden period of my life. I was in third grade when Garam Hawa released. I saw it much later though when it was telecast on Doordarshan. It was not one of those path breaking movies. Yet, it was such a deviant from the usual run-of-the-mill boy-chasing-girl-around-the-trees movies, that were being produced under the  mainstream banner, that it easily left an indelible imprint on the minds of all sensitive lovers of the celluloid. Obviously, it did not do well at the box office. Later on, as it always happens with such films, it was raved to be one of the most impactful movies made on the Partition. Farookh Sheikh debuted with this movie. But much before that he was anchoring a sponsored programme on Vividh Bharati and we were much accustomed with his voice before we could get enamoured by his performance on the silver screen. In fact, it was the  voice which made us curious to have a glimpse of the owner on screen.

Next was Chashmebaddoor, a film that brought romance next door.  The neighbourhood of Delhi's Nizamuddin - a middle class girl taking up a part time job of a detergent powder sales representative to earn her pocket money and the boy, the serious, studious kind, who could never dream of allowing an unknown girl in, when alone, fall in love, during a demo of Chamko Saabun and  how it worked wonders on everyday wears. Unthinkable at a time when larger than life role models of angry young man or tall, dark, handsome and not to mention stinking rich Casanovas ruled the roost in Indian cinema. You could never imagine a plain, young man with this much-ahead-of-his-times-naturalness would rewrite the fate of Hindi film heroes. I watched the film with my family in amused wonder.

Mid-Summer. First day of college. We had complied with all the necessary admission formalities. The timetable was yet not set. There was this long, desultory afternoon sprawled before us with nothing much to do. So we decided to go watch a movie - our first taste of so-called freedom that college life entailed! I remember paying around Rs. 2.60/- for a ticket in one of the prime theatres in Connaught Place. It was almost House Full. The gentleman seated next to us had helped us get two tickets for me and my friend. He cried unabashedly throughout the movie while we watched horrified how a filthy rich and fit-to-be-the-bride's father NRI compelled an impovershed Muslim aristocratic family to marry off their youngest daughter to him - flesh trade in the garb of social sanction. The film was bejewelled with beatific songs. Farookh and Supriya's "Phir chedi raat baat phoolon kii." was/is all time hummable and one of the most romantic songs composed in the history of Hindi film music.

Sai Paranjpayee had made her first and long lasting impression with Chashmebaddoor. So when Katha came it was a must watch for all of us. Again, it was an unusual story narrated in a very different format. Farookh  essayed with elan the role of a hero with positive shades of grey which few would have dared to do at a time when stereotype was another name for Bollywood and the quintessential hero was nothing short of a super human being with loads of muscle power coupled with dashing looks. Farookh did not fit into this format. In fact, he did not fit into any format whatsoever.

While he slipped into the skin of every character that he portrayed as glibly and as noiselessly as ever, it was his understated naturalness that, I personally feel, was his undoing. He was not one of those aggressive performers with oodles of onscreen charisma. He was not the director's lame excuse of a hero either. It was his almost unambitious subtlety that made him stand out as well as pushed him a little back stage. He was all there yet he refrained from making a forceful statement. Was it the characters that he chose to play or films that he preferred to be in responsible for his lack of genre?

Who could forget the idealist college boy Farookh crooning "Tumko dekha to yeh khayal aaya."  to a dreamy eyed class mate(Deepti Naval) in Saath-Saath? it was the kind of restrained romance at its breathtakingly beautiful best. In the final analysis, I suppose Farookh belonged to that genre where romance assumed lyrical height and a restrained pathos, a wistful remembrance and a sweet tugging pain to be nurtured lifelong. That was Farookh Sheikh for all of us.

I saw Rang Birangi out of compulsion because we could not imagine missing out on a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film. But  the release of Umrao Jaan was preceded by a kind of hype that was almost maddening. We haggled with the gate keeper of Liberty Cinema to get four tickets(in black), and yippeee, we did succeed. Rekha overshadowed everybody else(except Raj Babbar) in the movie. Farookh looked appropriately mesmerized by the diva. But I personally felt that he was too much of a boy next door to fit into the bedecked mojri of an indolent nawab.

Kisi Se Na Kehna was an unplanned watch on TV. The Deepti-Farookh pair was as relatable as adorable. Again, a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film, it had all the ingredients of a family entertainer.  Farookh did not and could not create a niche(read type) for himself. He was neither the outrageous rebel reforming the ills of society flexing well-toned brawns nor the enchanting lover-boy who could swoon every girl off the floor with his debonair charm. He was just the aam aadmi - the ordinary boy, somebody whom we knew and understood perfectly.

That said I would also like to add that Farookh's was a personality which evolved with age and experience. A long gap.and then Ji Mantri Ji, a show that had two stalwarts carrying it off on their shoulders - Farookh Sheikh and Jayant kripalani. An adaption of "Yes Minister", it had that sour sense of humour which regaled all classes of viewers without exception. Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai was a TV show whose TRP was as much due to Farookh's compering as to the famous film personalities he interviewed. His well-groomed mannerisms, Lukhnawee charm and genuineness made him an excellent host with whom the interviewee could feel at ease.

I am sorry that I lost touch with the theatre and could not watch Tumhari Amrita(Farookh and Shabana) even though it was staged in the Capital. I also regret that I could not watch Lahore which won Farookh the National Award. But I intend to watch it now. I also intend to watch Listen Ameya and Club 60 - the former a sensitive portrayal on late marriage and the latter released this year and critically acclaimed. In an interview with Rajeev Masand, prior to the release of Listen Ameya, Farookh and Deepti talked about their movie together after a prolonged gap of 26 years. Farookh, as always.  came up as a person who was very much in love with life, a little laid-back and immensely talkative who wanted to jell and reach out to people - a complete anathema to other stuck-up celebrities who mouthed finely edited statements, hugely conscious of their public image. In contrast, Farookh( I had also seen him in various other chat shows) appeared to be well-read holding independent views on sensitive issues.

For once, I agree with Mr. SRK when he tweeted that he should have made time to meet  up with Farookh Sahab now that it was too late. Not prone to hero-worship, Farookh Sheikh was a personality I would have definitely liked to meet and have a long chat with. What with his  dazzling white chikan kurta pajama, progressive lens, thoughtful look and endearing smile, Farookh, in contemporary parlance, did present a complete package of good looks, intellect and impeccable mannerism. The worst is that the call for him from heaven was so sudden and unexpected as much as the way he lived his life jovially, jocularly and nonchalantly. His every film is nostalgia for me as it brings back memories down the lane which I cherish. Had he lived longer, we could have expected a lot more from him and I am sure he would not have failed us at all.  Needless to say, he leaves behind a vacuum which cannot be filled so easily and he leaves behind an era which cannot be brought back even if we tried the hardest.

Good Bye Farookh Sahab.

Rest In Peace.