Today is the day when this fantastic actor was born in Gujarat in the year 1948. His films created a different feel of romance among the movie lovers.  A man of simple nature, Farooq Sheikh’s best movies happened between 1977 and 1989. With the face of a man-next-door, it was very easy for the crowd to associate with the feelings he depicted in his movies through his natural dialogue delivery. He even worked for television between 1988 and 2002 before returning to movies in 2008 and continued till he bid adieu to the world.  His best works were with Satyajit Ray, Ketan Mehta, Muzaffar Ali and Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

His movies with Deepti Naval made them the best onscreen pair of those times. Homely faces expressing love through smiles, this pair used to be the talk of town whenever decent romance was discussed. Comedy came naturally to Farooq. His role in Chashmebaddoor and Rang Birangi are still remembered by the masses.

For the movie Lahore in 2010, he won the National Film Award as the best supporting actor. He also anchored some television programmes and even acted on stage. His role in Shatranj ke Khiladi in which he acted with Sanjeev Kumar was much different from the other movies he did. Be it comedy, or serious roles, he fitted everywhere perfectly as if the characters were written keeping every breath of Farooq in mind. With an incredible sense of humour, Farood even interviewed a number of Bollywood celebrities in TV show Jeena isi ka naam hai. His amazing sense of humour went on to be the USP of the show.

On 27^th December 2013, while on a holiday with family, he suffered a heart attack which took his life. His grave is next to his mother’s grave in Andheri West, Mumbai.

Some of the famous songs of his movies are :

तुमको देखा तो ये ख़याल आया, ये तेरा घर ये मेरा घर, नूरी, देख लो आज हमको जी भरके, ज़िंदगी जब भी तेरी बज़्म में, सीने में जलन आँखों में धूँआ सा क्यों है, फिर छिड़ी रात बात फूलों की (and many more).