Farooq Sheikh's 5 most memorable roles

Veteran actor Farooq Sheikh who touched a chord with the audiences is now no more. The actor who made parallel cinema popular and brought it closer to the masses died of a heart attack in Dubai at the age of 65. Here are some of the actor's evergreen performances.

Chashme Buddoor (1981): Chashme Buddoor was a romantic comedy that saw a very young Farooq Sheikh wooing Deepti Naval along with his two friends Rakesh Bedi and Ravi Baswani. Over the years this film moved ahead to join the league of cult classics. The film has appeal even today and it urged filmmaker David Dhawan to come out with a remake in 2013. Even though Ali Zafar did his best to play Siddharth, Farooq's portrayal of the same had a different appeal altogether. 

Garam Hawa (1973): A sensitive film on the plight of Muslims after the India-Pakistan partition, Farooq Sheikh made his debut as Sikander Mirza. Directed by M S Sathyu, the film is about a Muslim family that lives in Agra and how their lives change along with the changing political situation in the country. Farooq played a student who despite his father's wishes joins an agitation against unemployment and discriminaton.   

Biwi Ho Toh Aisi (1988): Paired opposite Rekha in this drama, Farooq Sheikh plays the dutiful son to his dominating mother (Bindu) in this film. The movie focuses more on a mother-in-law's tactics to drive her village belle daughter-in-law (Rekha) away, however no one could overlook Sheikh's performance as the befitting obedient son.

Umrao Jaan (1981): Farooq Sheikh plays the suave and charming Nawab Sultan who falls in love with Umrao Jaan played by Rekha in this Muzaffar Ali film. A love story with a bitter ending, Farooq leaves his ladylove, a courtesan, to marry a more 'acceptable' girl that pleases his family instead. Like 'Chashme Buddoor', 'Umrao Jaan' too was remade in 2006 with Abhishek Bachchan reprising Farooq Sheikh's role from the original. 

Noorie (1979): A tragic love story, 'Noorie' has Poonam Dhillon play the title role while Farooq Sheikh plays her lover Yusuf Fakir. One of Farooq's finest performances of his career, he plays a lover who avenges the death of his fiance and eventually unites with her after death.