Anyone who says they knew Farooque Shaikh very well is extremely naive, says Honey Irani

Farooque Shaikh had an extraordinary fondness for honey. Several friends including Tinnu Anand and Ananth Mahadevan recall how he sent them large jars of German honey when they were ailing. He also had a dear friend by that name, writer-actor Honey Irani. Shaikh Sahab's 68th birth anniversary was celebrated Friday, March 25. Honeyji has not deleted Shaikh Sahab's name from her mobile phone.She cannot bring herself to do so. No day goes by without talking about him or thinking about him. Each time his favourite sweet is made, each time their group including Satish Shah and his family meets, happy memories of their annual Christmas parties wash over. The missing link in the group photo is Farooque Shaikh. Honey Irani met TOI at her bungalow in Carter Road, Bandra, the house where she hosted numerous parties for Farooque Shaikh and his family.
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"I got married in 1972 and I remember that Farooque Shaikh's debut film 'Garm Hava' released the following year. I attended the premiere and was very impressed by his performance. 'That was the day we met first. He was so friendly he came up to speak to me, and said, 'You are Honey Irani?' He said he had enjoyed the films I did as a child artiste and remarked how privileged I was to have worked with stalwarts like Balraj Sahni and Motilal whom he admired so much.'
"Farooque sought my opinion about his debut. He said, do you think I will make it as an actor or should I go back to being a lawyer? Of course I thought he should continue to act. I praised his natural style which was in the same league as these thespians. We parted saying we will always be friends,' she laughs, and adds, "But after that we never met for years!"
It was years before contact was restored. Honey Irani was assisting the making of Raman Kumar's 'Saath Saath.'
"Over the years, I saw more of him as an actor and admired him everytime. I saw the play 'Khalid Ki Khala' where Farooque Shaikh had to dress up as a woman, wig lagana aur waise hi chalna, and the director would tell him nazakat lao! He was a very fine actor who suited the role. I was on the sets of Saath Saath so I observed him there too. Such a natural."
She says Farooque Shaikh did not believe in being part of a clique in the industry. "He was an extremely classy man. In fact he could have done so much more work but he always insisted on a bound script, and that practice is not common in Mumbai. In fact, most actors take the script and do not open it, here was a man who actually read it. He was very choosy about whom he worked with."
"We soon became friends and would meet regularly over Christmas or New Year. Farooque and his wife Roopa, and Satish Shah and his wife Madhu often came over. We would meet on my birthday August 25 also. On Farooque's birthday he was often travelling. We met at one another's homes because we did not like going out very much," she says.
Honey Irani confirms that behind the gregarious exterior lay a soul that was deeply introspective and private. "I believe that anyone who claims he knew Farooque very well is either lying or extremely naive. I myself was a friend for 35-40 years but I know he opened up to very few people in his life."
"Farooque was not given to backbiting or gossip which is so common in the film industry. What I really admired about him is that he was always there for friends. He really was my 3.00am friend. There have actually been times when I called him at an ungodly hour as I was going through a bad patch in my life, and he came over without wasting a moment. He lived in Nagpada at the time. He has stood by me like a rock during my hour of crisis...' she says, her voice breaking with emotion.
It speaks volumes for Shaikh Sahab's character that Honey had implicit trust in him despite the fact that he was close friends with Shabana Azmi. Shabanaji later married Honey's husband Javed Akhtar. "Well, it is a compliment to the kind of person he was. I knew he would never carry tales from here to there, we simply did not discuss her," she says.
"Most people know that he had a good sense of humour, that he was very well read. You could discuss anything with him, politics, social issues, anything. He was a good friend, a true friend, who would guide me and correct me when I was wrong. He would say, don't do this. There were times we did not meet for weeks or months but we regularly kept in touch over SMS."
She laughs and says, "Once we started our SMSes they would go on endlessly until I said now stop and let me work! Then he would retort saying, you think only you are working aur main faltu baitha hoon?!"
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"I am very privileged to have known Farooque Shaikh. He was a very, very, very, very dear friend whom I looked up to and admired -- and listened to -- which I seldom do, let me tell you!"
Honeyji shared another special link with Shaikh Sahab, their Zoroastrian ancestry. "Yes, Shaikh Sahab's mother was Parsi. In fact we called each other Bawa. Like all Parsis, we both were very fond of food. We loved eating and were such gluttons we would go anywhere for good food!'
"I must tell you about the feasts we had at my house. Both Farooque and Satish Shah loved mutton so I would prepare large quantities whenever they were coming over. Now even as they sat to eat, they would criticise and say, yeh achha nahin bana, ya woh theek nahin hai, yet they would finish everything that was placed before them! I would cook around 1.5kg of mutton and it disappeared in no time! Yet they kept complaining ki theek nahin bana!" she laughs.
Honeyji remembers the new year feast they missed. It was December 2013, days before Shaikh Sahab passed away. "He said Bawa, I am going to Dubai with the family so come with us. Otherwise we won't be able to celebrate new year together. I made a jibe saying may you have a bad Christmas, how can you think of enjoying without me! Who knew how that holiday would turn out," she says, voice dropping.
"At around 5.30am on December 28, 2013, Satish Shah called to convey this shocking news. His remains were repatriated December 30 because of some procedural delays in Dubai. We went to the airport to escort him back for the last rites," she says. "Roopa and he made such a lovely couple, she was so devoted to him. No one's loss compares with hers. We can hardly imagine what she has lost."
She rues that Shaikh Sahab never took his health seriously. "I remember the time he fell sick in June 2012, we had accompanied him to Asian Heart Institute and he would not let the doctors near him! He hated doctors. He was making funny gestures from his hospital bed as if he was fighting to be discharged,' she laughs. "He believed in ayurvedic medicine more than allopathy."