Farrukh Jaffar – Bollywood actress of ‘Gulabo Sitabo‘ fame and India’s first female radio announcer

Farrukh Jaffar is a seasonal actress in Bollywood, who shot to fame playing the lead role of Amitabh Bachchan’s wife in 2020 release, Gulabo Sitabo. She has been a radio announcer with All India Radio long back she entered Bollywood films in 1981 through Umrao Jaan. She played the supporting role of Rekha’s mother in this iconic film. Later she made a comeback to films with Swades in 2003. Her roles in Peepli Live, Photographer and Lunchbox also got noticed. Gulabo Sitabo is the highlight of her acting career, where she played the lead role of Fatima Begum at the age of 87. It is her first lead role of her acting career, playing 95 years-old Begum. She is credited as India’s first female radio announcer.

She worked with All India Radio as an announcer during 1963 – 1970

Farrukh Jaffar was born in 1933 into a Muslim Zamindar family in Chakesar village, Jaunpur, UP. She lived in New Lucknow, most of her lifetime. She has also lived in Lawrence Terrace and now resides in Gomti Nagar. She studied at a government school of her village and got married at the age of only 13. She completed graduation after marriage. Her husband Syed Muhammad was a freedom fighter and reporter. He is deceased now. The couple has two daughters. Since childhood she has been interested in watching movies and plays. She joined radio in 1963 after completing graduation, and belongs to the first batch of selected employees, alongside Parveen Talha and Sinhaji, when Vividh Bharti (Akashvani) began its new station in Lucknow.

She worked in Lucknow till 1966 and later at AIR Urdu in Delhi till 1970, where she was the senior-most announcer. She left her career due to personal reasons and then moved to hometown Jaunpur, maternal grandmother’s house. She got busy with family life later.

She re-entered professional life playing Rekha’s mother in Umrao Jaan

As an actress she marked her screen debut with Umrao Jaan. In a private gathering she used Bhojpuri and Jaunpuri dialect to give answer to someone’s question and Umrao Jaan’s director Muzaffar Ali who overheard this conversation from balcony came down and offered her Rekha’s mother’s role in this periodic film. She belongs to a conservative family not so close to movies. However her family supported her in accepting the role.

After Umrao Jaan, she took a break from films, and returned to Bollywood after a hiatus of 22 years. Swades (2003) marked her comeback, and since then she has been a seasonal actress. She did around 15 films till now and played supporting roles in Peepli Live, Sultan, Chakravyuh, Tanu Weds Manu, Secret Superstar, Barefoot to Goa, Anwar Ka Ajab Qissa, Photographer, Lunchbox, Amma Ki Boli, Parched etc. Her memorable role as Ammaji in Secret Superstar got noticed.

Gulabo Sitabo directed by Shoojit Sircar is the landmark role of her career. Her role as aged Begum who loves her mansion left a mark in audience’s hearts. She has signed a project co-starring Pankaj Kapoor. Baba Azmi’s ‘Mee Raksam’ is yet another movie.

Farrukh Jaffar – 10+ Interesting and less-known facts

Farrukh Jaffar as Begum in Gulabo Sitabo

1. She is a theatre artist too, and has appeared as a stage artist in the plays directed by acclaimed artist Ebrahim Alkazi.

2. She was an A1 category radio announcer even though she had no formal training.

3. She is also an entrepreneur.

4. A freedom fighter and reporter, her husband later switched to politics and was MLC for two terms.

5. She shared screen space with Bollywood’s some of the great actors – with Big B in Gulabo Sitabo, with SRK in Swades, with Aamir Khan in Secret Superstar, with Salman Khan in Sultan, with Irrfan Khan in Lunchbox etc. Thus she has worked with all the big Khans of Bollywood, except Saif Ali Khan.

6. Farrukh wrote her own dialogues for the film Umrao Jaan in which she worked.

7. She marked her television debut in 1981. Husn-e-Jana, Adha Gaon, The Shawl and Neem Ka Ped are some of the television shows in which she appeared.

8. While filming the marriage scene of Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma in Sultan, she blessed Salman Khan to get married soon.

9. Raj Kapoor and Nargis are her favourite actors.

10. She knows English, Marathi, Hindi and Punjabi, and also a few Hindi dialects like Bhojpuri and others. In fact her Bhojpuri and Jaunpuri dialect landed her into the field of acting so unexpectedly.

11. Geeton Bhari Kahani and Panchrangi program are among her radio shows, where she played the role of an announcer.