Praveen Nischol: Over time I drifted apart from all my actors, except Farooque Shaikh

During the days Farooque Shaikh was shooting the television serial 'Shrikant', he had a laundry list of questions about his character. He plagued director Praveen Nischol with queries, asking why his character had to say this or do that. Nischol became nervous wondering whether his lead actor was "getting the plot". But when they began shooting, he saw "another Farooque Shaikh" appear before his eyes.One so confident, so comfortable in the skin of his character that Nischol wondered whether he had been imagining his doubts.
Also Read: 10 cinematic masterpieces of Farooque Shaikh
Shaikh Sahab's second Smriti Din will be observed Monday, December 28.
Long after he appeared on Bombay Doordarshan in the 1970s, well before he made the talk show 'Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai' in 2002, Shaikh played the lead in 'Shrikant'. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he made a weekly appearance on TV wearing a benign dhoti kurta without a touch of make-up.
Since he made 'Shrikant', Praveen Nischol has had a fairly successful career as film producer and director with 'English Babu Desi Mem', 'Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag', 'Sarkar Raj' and 'Gangajal'. Yet no actor made the impression that Farooque Shaikh did.
Nischol met TOI at a coffee shop near Shaikh Sahab's residence to discuss "the most brilliant actor he ever worked with". "We made three seasons of 'Shrikant' which is a novel by Bengali author Sharatchandra Chatterji. A fourth segment was in the pipeline but fell through. 'Shrikant' was shot on 35mm so the look it acquires is that of a feature film," he says.

Marketed by Doordarshan in India, 'Shrikant' was reportedly the first ever Asian serial to be telecast shown over BBC. A stellar team backed it up. It was written by Ali Raza Sahab, who was also the husband of actress Nimmi. Composer Jaidev, whose songs for 'Gaman' like 'Seene mein jalan', 'Ajeeb saaneha' and 'Raat bhar aapki yaad' added lustre to Shaikh's career, gave music for 'Shrikant'. Kumar Sanu sang the title song. Art director Sudhendu Roy and choreographer Madhav Kishen were drafted as well.
The producers acquired Farooque Shaikh by a turn of fortune. Nischol says, "Since the serial was to be shot in four segments, we had prepared a list of actors whom we planned to approach, including Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra. But somehow they would not fit in with either one part or another. One day a senior assistant suggested, why not Farooque Shaikh. Suddenly it was as if the spotlight was shed on the missing link. Of course, who else but Farooque Shaikh. He fit like a glove."
He laughs, "Believe me when I say it is tough to sign Farooque Shaikh for any project. We called, but he hemmed and hawed saying I am not sure I want to do television. Naturally, because he was at the peak of his film career. Yet, my co-producer Manmohan Shetty of Adlabs and I met him at Sea Rock Hotel. Before we reached, Manmohanji asked me, 'Are you sure you want Farooque Shaikh?' I said yes.'
"When Farooque met us at the hotel he quoted a very expensive fee. Even as I was wondering how to respond, Manmohanji instantly said okay. We shook hands over the deal. Later, I asked Manmohanji why he did not negotiate. He replied, 'But didn't you say you wanted him? You got him'," laughs Nischol.
There are two aspects of Farooque Shaikh which the director wants to discuss -- Shaikh Sahab as a person and as an actor. ``As a man, I think he was like the perfect British gentleman. Singularly polite. Two expressions ruled his face, he was either smiling or he was laughing. He had a very happy disposition. We were good friends, we went out to lunch and dinner in Mumbai and Delhi, and I found he was always very considerate about other people."
Nischol was editing 'Shrikant' in a studio in Tardeo and he would travel by car to Bombay Central. This was no easy ride given the vast distance from the suburbs. "One day Farooque wanted to come to the edit. He suggested we take the train instead. It'll save time, he said and I agreed. And there we were, standing in a local train amid an excited crowd of men who kept exclaiming, 'Farooque Shaikh! Farooque Shaikh! Farooque Shaikh!' He smiled casually as if travelling by train was the most natural thing in the world for an actor of his stature.''
The director remembers that even in Delhi, the two would walk to a store in Connaught Place where Shaikh Sahab ordered his boots. "We would also walk to a book shop nearby named Galgotia. He would mingle freely with people who came up to him,'' he says. "Even on set, he would distribute chocolates and cold drinks to the entire unit who was so happy with him. He was a wonderful human being.''
Nischol is equally enamoured of Shaikh's acting skills. "We shot 42 episodes of 'Shrikant' which is 21 hours of film which is enough to make seven feature films. Believe me, when I say Farooque Shaikh is the most brilliant actor I have worked with. And I have worked with a lot of actors from Irfan Khan to Shah Rukh Khan. I am impressed by the punctuality of two artistes in the industry, Mr Bachchan and Farooque Shaikh. Irfan will also tell you that for a 9.00am shift, Farooque would arrive in costume well before the appointed hour."
Shaikh often had lengthy dialogues running into four or five pages. "I noticed him prepare for the scene, and I was astounded to see what a sharp memory he had." As he says this, Nischol straightens up in his seat and explains animatedly, "He would leaf through the pages, scan what he saw, absorb the lines, put down the sheaf of paper and return to his chai. Bas, that was all. We would shoot from 9.00am to 3.00pm and he did not need to revisit his lines."
The icing on the cake was that not a single retake was required. "We may have reshot owing to other actors but never for Farooque Shaikh. Despite his skill he had no airs about him, he did not mind having to reshoot to accommodate other people's slip-ups. He said you can take as many retakes as you like. He would, in fact, help others with their lines."
Yet it was not as if the actor was merely swallowing all that was dished to him. Nischol laughs and says that before a shot was canned, Shaikh gave him grief asking why his character had to say or do certain things. "I answered all his doubts, but there were times I became nervous wondering whether he had a grip of the story. But when we began shooting, I saw another man altogether. Farooque slipped into the part of Shrikant so effortlessly that I asked myself if I had been imagining his doubts," he laughs.
One particular sequence stands out in memory. The director says, "There was a scene with actress Sujata Mehta who played the role of Rajalakshmi. She comes up to Farooque and asks if he is Shrikant from a certain village. They had been childhood friends. But he fails to recognise her and asks why she wants to know. During that scene, Farooque was resting his hands on the armrest of the chair. The shot was okayed."

"Afterwards, Farooque came up to me and asked if something was amiss. Have I got the scene right, he asked. I said why do you ask, of course you have. He said no, tell me what it is, your expression gives you away. I gingerly said, what if your arms were folded at the waist during that scene? It would be more apt for that feeling of light resistance. He immediately agreed, and we reshot. He smiled and said, that feels so much better. That was how sensitive Farooque was to his director's vision," smiles Nischol.
In another scene, Shaikh expresses thankfulness to an English officer saying, "Hindustaniyon ke dil mom ki tarah hote hain. Unki bhavnayein pighalke aansoo-on ke roop mein nikal aati hain." Nischol marvelled how on cue, Shaikh Sahab began to weep copious tears without the use of glycerine. "It was mesmerising to watch. You could make him cry all day during the shoot, yet suddenly off camera he would break into a joke that had us all laughing," he says.
Like Javed Siddiqi before him, Nischol says that Farooque Shaikh neither drank nor entertained friends to liquor. "He would take us all out for food but refused to pay for drinks. In fact, just a month or so before his passing, the Shrikant Alumni Association as I call it, was planning a reunion over lunch. Over time I drifted apart from all other actors that I worked with, except Farooque Shaikh. I miss him so dearly."
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