It was 28th dec early in the morning that I woke up to a message from a friend breaking this breath taking news that Farooq Sheikh sahab has passed away. I could not believe the news and replied to the text immediately asking what are you saying... seriously?? Got a confirmation call in return.
The entire day I was upset and heart broken... It all started from him after all... It was 3 years ago when I came to Mumbai for a project. I was excited as I was told that the veteran actor Farooq sheikh sahab will host our show 'Aahar darpan' for Doordarshan. As an assistant director then, I was told that my job would be taking care of Farooq Sahab with his script and his outfit continuity during the shoot.
Early morning...first day of our shoot. It was pouring heavily in Mumbai and I was told to inform everyone when Farooq sahab is on the sets... I remember I was waiting for him to get down of a big car as normally the big celebrities usually do...but to my surprise nothing even close to that happened...Infact, an auto passed by ...which I didn't even bother to check...and then I saw everyone going towards that auto...as Farooq sahab got out of the rick..
I anyways loved him as an actor in all his movies especially chashme badoor and Katha... but this was a moment when I fell in love with this man all over again...not for his acting but for his simplicity, charm and aura he had at that moment. So far I have met so many celebrities and worked with them closely but I wont lie I never felt so happy and excited to see them as I felt when I came across 'gentlemen'... I was in complete awe when I saw him for the first time... standing right in front of me... in white kurta pajama with chicken kadai work on it.
Then came the best part... 'The Shoot' ... where I was actually seeing this well educated , well versed versatile actor saying those long hindi sentences which took us ages to pen down on the papers with so much ease...interest and perfection and 'the urdu lehza'... he had was just cherry on the cake... The most boring topic was sounding so interesting because of him...On the sets apart from the director... only I had an access to his vanity van. I was helping him with the script along with the script writer... Though Farooq ji was the best when it comes to the hindi and urdu zubaan but there was just one word that he had a little difficultly in pronouncing... "prasanskaran" and in the process of finalising the script I had learnt it by heart as a result I just said it at one go... this amazed him and he asked me to repeat this word again for him... and that was the ice breaking moment between us. I remember after this he started refering to me as mohtarma... for rechecking the words and sentences just after reading it on sets with the consent of the script writer of course...which I guess was to keep everyone involved and in light mood.
Another day we were getting out of his Vanity van when he started the conversation- Aap dilli se hain? I said Ji... Farooq sahab then asked me - Which place you like better dilli or bombay? to which my reply was- Abhi zyada waqt nahi hua but dil dilli mein hai or kaam bombay mein so... and we both exchanged a smile... the moment we reached the door of the studio he asked me to enter... I said after you sir... Farooq sahab replied.... Always ladies first... After you mam... and even after trying two or three times... he was not ready to enter before me... This continued every time we used to come from the Vanity van to the set. He always used to enter after me... And I don't know if anyone noticed this or not but I was bowled by the respect and politeness this man showed during the time.
As the days passed he gave me a nick name - Hercules,.. and once i was out for the purchase of sets and was talking on phone with my director when he shouted from behind... where is hercules... call her And i got too excited to hear that message. Later he told the director not to send me anywhere as anyways I am always running around.He always used to carry the print out of the script for the next episode to be shot the very next day...once we failed to give him the same on the sets and asked him to come next day and read it before the shoot. But he was too particular about the script... that he asked me to drop it at his place at whatever time we are done with the final print. One of my friend(then colleague) Rohini and I went at his place to handover the script. He wasnt well at that time as well and was taking rest so we didnt bother to wake him up and left the script with his wife.
Whenever he was on the sets it was always a pleasure to be around. His sense of humour ,wit and timings were amazing.
Another incident that I could recollect was with the setting dada. There was a fly on the set that was coming in the frame again and again so we called for a mosquito killing racket. Setting dada ...was trying to kill the fly... to which farooq ji very innocently asked him - " Dada ye batao jab aap ghar se nikalte ho to aap kya bolte ho... aaj main makhi maarne ja raha hoon...? ' and we all burst out laughing....including our setting dada...:)
In the short span of those few days of shoot I met
such an amazing personality who was so passionate
towards his profession and truly respects everyone he comes across. He in fact remembered tiny details on the shoot...When I used to be confused with the continuity of his look for example kurta's for each episode...he used to remember what all he had in that particular episode like his black strap watch...and in which hand was he wearing it and which cup was he sipping the coffee from? and what books were kept on the table. I was so impressed...call it experience or memory but it was not his job...still he used to help me in reminding things like that which were so so important and used to keep me attentive all the time... Once I ran towards him and stopped him in the middle to take his picture for the costume continuity...and he knew I was clicking it for that purpose but he turned around and gave me a great ... calm and composed smile to capture that moment.
On the last day of the shoot he asked me to call the spot dada in his vanity van...I did the same and came in the van. He took out Rs1000 and gave it to spot dada. Little hesitant to see me there...spot dada refused to take it...and said that he was being paid by us. Farooq ji told him that this was from his side for all the care and concern sot dada took of him during the shoot...its for the hardwork they showed.
He wished me luck for future and greeted everyone around before leaving... He could have given the money on the sets as well or could not have given them the money at all...but he was just too human and such a great soul.
I can't thank my stars enough for getting an
opportunity to work with such a genuine and gem of a person as my first project in Mumbai. Could not have asked for more. So many people have been working here and for so long. Yet they have not been able to get this experience which I got. Such people don't exist in this time.
YOU WILL BE MISSED !!
P.S: Just an honest attempt to pay respect and tribute to the person who deserved much more than a mention on my page... Sad , numb and heartbroken!!
