On Saturday, the Bollywood film industry lost one of their most successful actors.
Farooq Sheikh, an Indian actor and TV presenter, suffered from a heart attack on Friday while visiting his family in Dubai.
According to Global News, Sheikh’s career began in the 1973 film Garm Hawa, “about the 1947 partition of the subcontinent at the end of British rule. His performance earned him a key role in director Satyajit Ray’s The Chess Players, about the decadence of India’s feudal classes.”
He was highly known for connecting to ordinary people by dressing ordinary himself. Sheikh also was a social advocate and philanthropist within the community.
“This is an aspect of his life that I have hardly seen in any other individual. It is not just a loss to the film industry, but for the entire nation,” said congress leader Meem Afzal.
Sheikh’s legendary films and TV appearances went on into the early 2000s. After a six-year break from the big screen, he returned in 2008 and continued acting until his death.
In the past, he has contributed to New Indian Cinema, working with other popular Indian directors. However his greatest achievement came in 2010 when he won National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Lahore.
“Farooq Sheikh was a versatile actor whose performances were sterling and scintillating. In his untimely death we have lost another jewel,” said Manish Tewari, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, in a DNA India report.
Famous Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan went to Twitter to send his sympathies for the remarkable actor.
T 1336 -God !! Farooq Sheikh passes away !!? A true gentleman, a wonderful colleague ! A quiet honesty about him. Very very sad !
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) December 28, 2013
Sheikh leaves behind his wife and three children.