Farrukh Jaffar: A leading lady at 88     

Sitting at her dining table in her Lucknow home, with a warm cup of tea in hand, veteran actress Farrukh Jaffar is celebrating the premiere of her latest film, Mehrunisa.

Mehrunisa is a movie with many firsts. It’s her first leading role, that too at the age of 88. It’s also the first Austrian feature film to have been shot completely in India and the first Austrian production about the Indian film industry. However, what made her say yes to the script was the way the director, Sandeep Kumar, presented the character: “It resonated with me because both of us are dabangg (badass),” she says with a chuckle.

The film talks about women’s empowerment, centred as it is around a senior citizen who wants to become an actor. Jaffar has been an inspiration for women in real life as well. She has travelled a long way in life—from being the first woman announcer at Vividh Bharati to making a name for herself in the film industry.

However, she does not like to be called a role model for anyone. Her elder daughter, Mehru Jaffar, explains: “My mother has always been fighting with society at every step. But she doesn’t think of herself as spearheading anything, she just wants to have a

good time.”

For Jaffar playing the leading lady proved to be a very fulfilling experience. Mehru adds: “She doesn’t care if she has a small role or a big one. She puts her heart, soul and entire energy in whatever she does, because she just wants to have fun. She wouldn’t hold herself back even if it were a small role.”

Interestingly, Jaffar never dreamt of becoming an actor though she has always been very fond of cinema. She moved to Lucknow from Jaunpur when she got married at the age of 16 to journalist and freedom fighter Syed Muhammad Jaffar. For her, life in the city meant going to cinema every day. She would convince her husband’s brothers or young boys in the family to accompany her, and sometimes watched three shows back-to-back if she particularly liked a movie. She loved watching Nargis throw tantrums on screen and listening to Dilip Kumar’s voice, she recalls.

She loves being dramatic even in real life. “When my younger sister wanted to marry someone that my mother didn’t approve of, she (Jaffar) said, ‘main bandook nikal lungi’ (I’ll take out my gun),”

laughs Mehru.

Jaffar has played various roles over the years but the all-time favourite has been that of the old, sharp-tongued Amma in Peepli Live: “I got the chance to really speak [a lot] in the movie.” There was an incident on the sets of Peepli Live, where the director Anusha Rizvi kept shouting “Cut” but Jaffar would continue acting. Aamir Khan, who was the producer of the film, said, “When Amma starts acting, no one can stop her.” Another favourite of hers has been her character—the courtesan’s mother—in Umrao Jaan, not only because it was her first on-screen appearance, but she thinks she looked beautiful in it.

Getting immersed in the acting process, she often improvises her lines. Most of her directors have provided her with the liberty to do so. Muzaffar Ali allowed her to write her own dialogues for Umrao Jaan. Prakash Jha told her to say whatever she liked and scream for as long as she wanted to in Chakravyuh. In Peepli Live, Aamir and Anusha allowed her to improvise the accent and hurl the abuses that she keeps throwing at people.

At 88, however, a dream role remains—that of Ismat Chughtai, someone she idolized and always wanted to emulate. “Chughtai was speaking about things that society couldn’t confront in the early 20th century. She did not care how she would be perceived by the society if she lived on her terms. It is natural for anyone with spunk to want to be like her, and, as an actor, portray her on-screen.”

The octogenarian has worked with many big names in the Hindi film industry, from Rekha to Amitabh Bachchan to the Khans. She says that they’ve all been very cordial and respectful towards her. But Jaffar has a small complaint with them, that they are beyond her reach once the shooting gets over. Her daughter says: “My mother has often wanted to call up Shah Rukh, Aamir or Salman to wish them on Eid and bless them. They’re very sweet to her when they meet, but after that they forget us. She’d like to keep in touch with them. Sab bemuravvat hain (Everyone is negligent

and uncaring).”

Talking about her future projects, Farrukh says, “You’ll definitely see me in more leading roles ahead.” She had to decline an offer with Sanjay Mishra due to Covid-19 protocols. But her next release, Seher, is with Pankaj Kapur who plays the role of a Lucknow-based Kashmiri Pandit and Urdu teacher who spends his entire life trying to keep Urdu alive.

Jaffar adds, “It’s now my aim to do movies set in Lucknow.” A city she belongs and the city that belongs to her.