Farooque Sheikh: Wish my career was like Naseer's

New Delhi: Having worked together in films like 'Lorie', 'Bazaar' and 'Katha', Farooque Sheikh says he envies the career of fellow veteran and 'brilliant actor' Naseeruddin Shah. Farooque, 64, who along with actors like Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Om Puri, Naseeruddin, Deepti Naval gave a new lease of life to parallel cinema in the seventies and eighties, said he is not happy with his over three-decade-long career.

"I am not happy with my work and that always helps me perform better. Whenever I look back at my films, I feel what useless work have I done!

"I am very fond of my friend Naseeruddin Shah. He has done many ordinary films also but his body of work speaks of an artiste who is of an uncommon calibre. His career is full of solid roles and I wish my career would have been like him," Farooque told PTI.

The National award winning actor will be seen next in a lead role after a long time in the upcoming 'Listen Amaya', with the film releasing on February 1.

Directed by debutante Avinash Kumar Singh, the film is about the relationship between a widow and her daughter and what happens when the mother falls in love with a man.

"It's not a hero and a heroine centric film, rather it's an ensemble of important characters. I play the character of a middle-aged man who gets attracted to a woman of his age. And that's how the relationship unfolds with the lady and the daughter," he said.

In the film, he has teamed up with actress Deepti Naval after a long time. "We have come together as two main lead players after sometime. Both Deepti ji and I have done substantial amount of work together. We share a nice equation with each other as we are comfortable with each other. It's a happy occurrence

whenever it happens. 'Listen Amaya' is an interesting subject and the story has been told nicely," he said.

But the actor-TV host says that the audience needs to be mature enough and give strong content in films their due credit.

"If we see the kind of films that are making 200 crores at the box-office, I don't think that the audience have become mature enough. Although, I am not in disfavour of that kind of cinema because such cinema have always existed and will always exist. But they should not have a monopoly on the industry. This kind of cinema also deserve the same treatment," he said.

However, Farooque, who has worked with acclaimed directors like Satyajit Ray, Muzaffar Ali, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Ketan Mehta, says even the newer lot are the same in their commitment and passion.

"There is no difference in the commitment and passion. I also have had the good fortune of working with debutante directors. They spread an infectious spirit all around because the story bothers them so much until they make it a film. That is why they are very interesting to work with," he said.

Farooque will be seen next in 'Club 60' opposite Sarika. The film is a sneak-peek into the lives of a youthful bunch of people aged 60.