He is not the lead character in the recently released film Lal Kabootar. But most reviewers and cinephiles who watched the film cannot stop talking about his character and his acting. It would be fair to say that Rashid Farooqui stole the show with his portrayal of corrupt police inspector Ibrahim, a sleazy, unethical character easy to dislike but who the audience is rooting for by the end of the film.
The climactic scene in the film remains embedded in people’s memories long after the film ends, an orgy of cinematic violence in which Rashid exacts revenge while dolled up in a little girl’s make-up. To understand why, you would have to see the film.
“This is where I begin,” he says to me when I meet him in between a shoot for an upcoming drama serial, a meaningful smile on his face. “It is actually my fifth film [he has previously done supporting roles in Maalik, Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hai and Mah-i-Meer as well] but I feel like this is my first film.
Rashid Farooqui has been around — on stage, television and film — for over two decades, quietly accumulating critical acclaim. But after Lal Kabootar he may be ready to explode into real stardom
“Yeh film hamari shanaakht hai [This film is our identity],” he continues. “The people who made it and are acting in it are pure Pakistani and the art coming out of them is pure Pakistani. Not one person in the team was unqualified. The director, director of photography, sound director, all of them were very well-qualified. It took [director] Kamal Khan 10 years to get everything together. I have been in the field for the past 24 years or so and I have never seen a more well-planned shoot in my entire career. Mera dil chahta tha ye shoot kabhi khatm na ho, main roz iskay shoot pe jaoon [I wanted the shoot to never end and be there for the shoot everyday]!”
Rashid is still riding high on the accolades he is receiving for his work on the film. In person, he has a twinkle in his eye and a face that easily breaks into an infectious grin, a pleasant surprise for those used to seeing him in hard-boiled, grungy characters. For someone who used to be shy and quiet, a back-bencher child at school, people from his childhood are stunned to know him now as one of the most critically acclaimed actors in the country.
But he has certainly paid his dues. Twenty-something years ago, theatre was completely new stuff for Rashid Farooqui who worked in a government department. “Mera funoon-i-lateefa se koi taaluq nahin tha [I knew nothing about fine arts]. Benazir was the prime minister of Pakistan at the time and theatre was mostly being done by political activists to send out political messages. I was offered a stereotyped moulvi’s role who was a negative character in a play called Jin Pe Takya Tha. I enjoyed acting so much I formed a Karachi-based theatre group called Baang with Mussadiq Sanwal as the director and Mohammed Hanif wrote plays for us.”
In 1995, Baang staged its most acclaimed play Marnay Ke Baad Kya Hoga (MKBKH). Rashid played a hit man called Javed Tappa who had been killed in a staged police encounter and who rises from the grave to demand his life back. “On the way home from rehearsal one day, I got arrested and the next day the theatre group spent the day trying to get me out of the police lock-up,” he recalls laughing. “When they did get me released, it was time for the play to go up on stage and I went up straight to act.”
MKBKH allowed Rashid to get his foot in the door in television. With director and producer Ghazanfar Ali basing a TV play on the stage play, Rashid did 92 episodes for the fledgling private channel NTM. “It gave me a lot of confidence,” he says, “I began to be acknowledged on the streets and I realised acting was all I wanted to do. Even though friends advised me to have a job alongside, I decided to leave my government job. But to this day, I have never regretted it. I know that I can only be a thorough actor if I have all the time to build and present myself as an actor, and not have a responsibility somewhere else. So acting is my livelihood and it is sufficient for me and my family.”