Farrukh Jaffar, who Played Begum in ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, Dies at 88

Veteran Hindi film actor Farrukh Jaffar passed away in Lucknow, Uttar Padesh on Friday at the age of 88, following a brain stroke.

In the recent film Gulabo Sitabo, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jaffar played the role of Fatima Begum. Jaffar has also acted in films like Peepli Live, Swades, Sultan and Secret Superstar.

Shaz Ahmed, Jaffar’s grandson, told PTI, “My grandmother died today at around 7 pm at Gomti Nagar residence following a brain stroke. Her last rites will take place on Saturday at the Aishbagh Kabristan.”

Shaz also took to Twitter to announce the famed actor’s demise. “My grandmother and wife of Freedom fighter, Ex MLC Mr S.M.Jaffar and Veteran Actress Mrs Farrukh Jaffar passed away today at 7 pm in Lucknow,” he said in his tweet.

My grandmother and wife of Freedom fighter, Ex MLC Mr S.M.Jaffar and Veteran Actress Mrs Farrukh Jaffar passed away today at 7 pm in lucknow . @Nawazuddin_S @amirkingkhan @priyankagandhi @RahulGandhi @ndtv @ndtvindia @TimesNow @RichaChadha @zainabsikander @ pic.twitter.com/Ijwb2rr56e

— Shaaz Ahmad (@shaaz79) October 15, 2021

Hailing from Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, she came to Lucknow after finishing her studies. She was married to S M Jaffar, former Member of Legislative Council and ex-UP Congress chief.

Jaffer graduated from Lucknow University. As a fresh graduate, she landed a job at All India Radio. She was one of the first female voices at AIR, Lucknow.

However, Jaffar left the job at AIR in 1966 to help her widowed mother in Jaunpur. She later moved to Delhi with her husband, who was posted there. At this time, she again joined AIR’s Urdu service.

Jaffar made her acting debut in Bollywood with the film Umrao Jaan in 1981. In the movie, she played the role of veteran actor Rekha’s mother. 

This year, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her acclaimed performance as Fatima Begum in Gulabo Sitabo. At the age of 88, this made her the oldest winner of a Filmfare award for acting.

Interestingly, after Umrao Jaan, she went on a 23-year-long acting hiatus. She returned to the medium only in 2004 with her second film Swades. Then, she acted in about a dozen films in the last 20 years alone.

After Swadesh, she acted in Peepli Live, Chakravyuh, Sultan, and Tanu Weds Manu, and Gulabo Sitabo, among other films. Further, she played the lead role in Narayan Chauhan’s Ammaa ki Boli (2019).

Screenwriter Juhi Chaturvedi, who worked with Jaffar in Gulabo Sitabo, paid tribute to her on Instagram. “Begum gayiin. Farrukh jina aap jaisa koi tha aur na hoga,” she said in her post.