Whenever you looked at him on the big screen or small, you always got the feeling that here is a nice man with a wonderful smile. The late Farooque Shaikh has made some superb movies, mostly in Parallel Cinema, whose impact still remains today.
He once admitted in an interview, that he was not a big star and he could not demand roles of his choice. But whatever came his way were mostly excellent. His two-person play Tumhari Amrita along with Shabana Azmi was a sensation.
He also did well on television and his anchoring of Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai was well appreciated. He and Deepti Naval made a great pair and acted in several films.
Here are five Farooque Shaikh films which are a must watch:
Chashme Buddoor (1981)
Cast: Farooque Shaikh, Deepti Naval, Rakesh Bedi, Ravi Baswani, Saeed Jaffrey
Director: Sai Paranjape
Siddarth (Shaikh) and his two friends (Bedi, Baswani) live in a flat where a salesgirl Neha (Naval) enters their lives and sends them in a tizzy. Siddarth is smitten while the two others get jealous.
They try to disrupt the affair whenever they get a chance but end up feeling guilty when they successfully hatch a breakup plan. Siddarth is so depressed with everything that he even contemplates suicide.
The friends finally manage to bring Siddarth and Neha together before a kidnapping drama occurs. A great comedy entertainer with lovely songs.
Kaatha (1983)
Cast: Farooque Shaikh, Naseeruddin Shah, Deepti Naval, Winnie Paranjape, Arun Joglekar
Director: Sai Paranjape
This is a loose adaptation of the Hare and Tortoise tale. Here a young and shy clerk Rajaram Joshi (Shah), who lives in a Mumbai chawl, hopes to romantically link up with his neighbour Sandhya (Naval) before a confident and smooth-talking friend Bashudev (Shaikh) spoils the show.
Joshi watches helplessly as Bashudev moves in with him, steals his lady love and entraps everybody with his big talk. Sandhya, however, gets intimate with him.
One by one, Bashudev’s lies are exposed and the man with the patience moves into pole position. Joshi offers to marry Sandhya despite her getting pregnant with Bashudev’s child.
Saath Saath (1982)
Cast: Farooque Shaikh, Deepti Naval, Rakesh Bedi, Neena Gupta
Director: Raman Kumar
An idealist, Avinash (Shaikh), does not believe in money and pursues his own destiny despite coming from a rich family. He ends up as a struggling writer.
Geeta (Naval) is the daughter of a mill owner who gets attracted to Avinash over his principles. The two decide to get married and are expecting his child.
But they can’t afford to survive with Avinash’s small income. Fed up with the struggle, Vanish joins a large publishing house and his fortunes and principles change. But Geeta does not like that.
Lakhon Ki Baat (1984)
Cast: Sanjeev Kumar, Farooque Shaikh, Anita Raj, Utpal Dutt, Pinchoo Kapoor
Director: Basu Chatterjee
Sports photographer Alok Prakash (Shaikh) is hit by a ball while covering a women’s hockey match. He suffers minor injuries but his sharp lawyer brother-in-law Prem Sagar (Sanjeev Kumar) sees an opportunity to fleece an insurance firm for a lot of money.
Alok feigns serious injury with Prem coming up with stories and exaggerating the injury at any given opportunity.
However, insurance agent Maganbhai suspects something wishy-washy and spies on them. Finally, Alok cannot maintain his ruse any longer. It’s great to see Shaikh, Sanjeev Kumar and Utpal Dutt together giving great performances.
Biwi Ho Toh Aisi (1988)
Cast: Farooque Shaikh, Rekha, Salman Khan, Kader Khan, Asrani, Bindu
Director: J K Bihari
This family drama deals with the a determined daughter-in-law Shalu (Rekha) facing off with her domineering mother-in-law Kamla (Bindu).
Suraj Bhandari (Shaikh) marries Shalu, a village belle, against Kamla’s wishes. However, Shalu tries to win over Kamla and finally succeeds.
Then it is revealed that Shalu is not what she really is. All’s well what ends well. Rekha and Shaikh are superb in their roles with able support from Kader Khan.
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