NEW DELHI: British Indian actor Saeed Jaffrey, who could play a rustic tobacco vendor or a cuckolded nawab of Lucknow with equal poise, has died following a brain haemorrhage at his London home, his family announced on Monday.

Jaffrey’s compelling portrayal of Sardar Patel, a Gandhi devotee who had reservations about Jawaharlal Nehru, in Richard Attenborough’s story of Mahatma Gandhi, appears to have fetched a condolence message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who mourned his death early on Saturday. “Saeed Jaffrey was a multifaceted actor whose flair and versatility will always be remembered,” Mr Modi, a Patel devotee, said in a message from Turkey.

A statement from Jaffrey Associates said he passed away in the early hours of November 14. He had collapsed at his London home from a brain haemorrhage and never regained consciousness. He leaves behind his wife Jennifer, who was at his side.

Jaffrey’s funeral will be held in London in around two weeks, the statement said.

The actor earned fame for the prolific and versatile roles he played in Hollywood and Indian films, and personally knew a large number of actors, playwrights and others in the television and film industries in Britain.

His pan-chewing, hookah-smoking characterisation of a Lucknow nawab gave much authenticity to Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khiladi (The Chess Players), which was based on a short story by the legendary Munshi Premchand. After looking for a mosque on the banks of the Gomti river for hours, where he could play chess with his partner in peace, the nawab remembers the monument was not in Lucknow at all. “Ama mian wo to Kanpur mein thi.” (Dear sir, the mosque I now remember was in Kanpur). The “ama mian” inflection was pure Lucknow, and it peeped out of his roles on countless occasions.

Jaffrey was the first Indian performer to receive an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama in the UK in 1995.

While he gained popularity in Indian films, Jaffrey’s refined performances in English theatre and Hollywood films are not any less known. He formed his own English theatre company in New Delhi, and played leads in productions of Shakespeare, Wilde, Priestley, Fry, Dylan Thomas and Tennessee Williams, before moving to Britain and the US, his family said. He became the first Indian actor to tour and perform Shakespeare across the United States, and the first to appear in a major role on Broadway, playing Professor Godbole in “A Passage To India” opposite Dame Gladys Cooper.

Jaffrey was also prolific and versatile on radio, including writing and broadcasting hundreds of scripts in Hindi, Urdu and English for BBC World Service.

The actor married twice and has three daughters from his first wife Madhur. His second wife Jennifer is a casting agent.

He was honoured with Filmfare Awards for his performances in “Heena”, “Ram Teri Ganga Maili” and Ray’s “Shatranj Ke Khiladi”.

Saeed’s niece Shaheen Aggarwal shared an interview of the actor on Facebook and wrote: “Today, a generation of Jaffreys has passed away. Saeed Jaffrey has joined his brothers and sister and is rejoicing in the lap of his Heavenly Father, eternally.”

Film journalist S. Ramachandran remembered how Saeed Jaffrey was a man who never stopped speaking his mind. He rejoiced in speaking about how he had doubled up at the sales counter at Harrod’s while working for the BBC and how he had to wear a coat and tie and pretend to be a customer when co-star Ingrid Bergman visited the store.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2015