This Article is From Dec 30, 2013

Deepti Naval: Farooq Sheikh was part of my career and life

Deepti Naval: Farooq Sheikh was part of my career and life

Deepti and Farooq were a popular pair in films.

Highlights

  • Veteran actress Deepti Naval says the late Farooq Sheikh was a constant part of her professional and personal lives.
  • On Saturday (December 28), Deepti woke up to the news that Farooq Sheikh was no more. He died of cardiac arrest in Dubai late Friday (December 27).
  • "He was not just a constant part of my career but also of my life. Oh God! It's so hard to believe he's gone," said Deepti, who last interacted with Farooq two months ago at the Sharjah Book Fair.
  • "We worked together for the first time in Chashme Buddoor, and we did 7-8 films together after that. Of these my favourite films are Chashme Buddoor, Saath Saath and Listen...Amaya," she said.
  • Deepti remembers the 1981 film, Chashme Buddoor, directed by Sai Paranjpye, with special fondness.
  • "Sai Paranjpye, I, Rakesh Bedi, Ravi Baswani, Saeed Jaffrey... What a team it was! We made a film that just happened. We were all having so much fun while making it. On a flight, I saw the Chashme Buddoor remake. It did nothing to me. It had no impact. Watching the remake, I missed the original team even more.
  • Now, Ravi Baswani is gone, Farooq is gone. We also did Sai's Katha together where Farooq played this incorrigible flirt. I used to tease him that in Katha he played his real self," said Deepti.
  • She says Farooq was a big flirt.
  • "I asked him when we got together for Listen ...Amaya, why he didn't flirt with me. When I look back at our films together, I find he was very cute and charming. And what a good-looker," she said.
  • But she says with her, he had a different rapport. He would always tease her. And he would crack jokes at her expense.
  • "When we worked together again in Listen....Amaya after 26 years, he was still pulling my leg. I said, ‘Ab toh sudhar jao.' He was adorable. He never changed.
  • The only change I saw in him during Listen...Amaya was that he would not sit with the rest of the unit after a shot. He would go back to his book. He was always reading," said Deepti.
  • Deepti had plans of working with Farooq all over again.
  • "He had read three of my scripts. He kept prodding me to make those films. After doing Listen...Amaya, together we realized how much we missed one another. We wanted to do a play together. Now, we can never work together again," she said.
Mumbai: Veteran actress Deepti Naval says the late Farooq Sheikh was a constant part of her professional and personal lives.

On Saturday (December 28), Deepti woke up to the news that Farooq Sheikh was no more. He died of cardiac arrest in Dubai late Friday (December 27).

"He was not just a constant part of my career but also of my life. Oh God! It's so hard to believe he's gone," said Deepti, who last interacted with Farooq two months ago at the Sharjah Book Fair.

"We worked together for the first time in Chashme Buddoor, and we did 7-8 films together after that. Of these my favourite films are Chashme Buddoor, Saath Saath and Listen...Amaya," she said.

Deepti remembers the 1981 film, Chashme Buddoor, directed by Sai Paranjpye, with special fondness.

"Sai Paranjpye, I, Rakesh Bedi, Ravi Baswani, Saeed Jaffrey... What a team it was! We made a film that just happened. We were all having so much fun while making it. On a flight, I saw the Chashme Buddoor remake. It did nothing to me. It had no impact. Watching the remake, I missed the original team even more.

Now, Ravi Baswani is gone, Farooq is gone. We also did Sai's Katha together where Farooq played this incorrigible flirt. I used to tease him that in Katha he played his real self," said Deepti.

She says Farooq was a big flirt.

"I asked him when we got together for Listen ...Amaya, why he didn't flirt with me. When I look back at our films together, I find he was very cute and charming. And what a good-looker," she said.

But she says with her, he had a different rapport. He would always tease her. And he would crack jokes at her expense.

"When we worked together again in Listen....Amaya after 26 years, he was still pulling my leg. I said, 'Ab toh sudhar jao.' He was adorable. He never changed.

The only change I saw in him during Listen...Amaya was that he would not sit with the rest of the unit after a shot. He would go back to his book. He was always reading," said Deepti.

Deepti had plans of working with Farooq all over again.

"He had read three of my scripts. He kept prodding me to make those films. After doing Listen...Amaya, together we realized how much we missed one another. We wanted to do a play together. Now, we can never work together again," she said.
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