Javed Siddiqui remembers Shaukat Kaifi

On Friday, veteran theatre and film actor Shaukat Kaifi passed away at her residence after suffering a cardiac arrest. Many industry people recalled fond memories of the 93-year-old veteran. Among them was Javed Siddiqui, who saw Kaifi on stage for the first time in 1963 in the play Africa Jawan Pareshan (Africa, Young and Awake). This was Siddiqui’s introduction to experimental theatre.He was mesmerised by Kaifi’s performance and joined her group. Talking about Kaifi, he revealed that she hailed from an illustrious family in Hyderabad.
She was 17 when she saw Kaifi Azmi at a mushaira and fell in love with him. Later, she started acting in plays. Her play Tanhai was loved by the audience. For Siddiqui, her big film was Garam Hava, which was directed by MS Sathyu and had Balraj Sahni in the lead. It was written by Kaifi Azmi and Shama Zaidi and was based on an unpublished short story by Ismat Chughtai. The other film Siddiqui mentioned was Umrao Jaan, in which she played Khanum Jaan.
Siddiqui recalled that she was an actor par excellence, but she was also very fussy. He said that Kaifi insisted on getting the minute details of the character right. Just before a show or shoot, she'd lock herself up in a room for two to three days. Nobody was allowed to call her. At times, she'd skip meals. But once she got on stage, you could see the transformation. Kaifi supported Shabana when she wanted to act in Bollywood films.