Kolkata: Happy to be paired with old pal and actor Deepti Naval after nearly three decades in the film 'Listen Amaya', actor Farooq Sheikh today wondered why it took so long for directors to cast them together.
"Deepti and I had acted together in 'Chashme Buddoor', 'Saath Saath', 'Katha' and 'Faasle' among others and all the movies were well received by the audience, but can't say why it took such a long time to cast us together!" Farooq told PTI over phone from Mumbai.
The duo, a hit pair in the early '80s in arthouse of projects, will be again seen together in debutante director Avinash Singh's 'Listen Amaya' precisely after 28 years.
Asked if they can bring alive their on-screen chemistry all over again in the film, Farooque said, "Times have changed, audience profile has changed, but something remains the same, and yes there can be the curiosity factor too."
The film centres around a relationship between a middle-aged widow, essayed by Deepti, and her daughter, played by Swara Bhaskar of 'Tanu Weds Manu' fame and what happens when the mother falls in love with a 60-year-old retired photographer, played by Farooq.
Asked if he had any misgiving about turning up in a project of a first-time director and producer, Farooq said, "We were struck by his sincerity and confidence and yes also the subject which is not wholly incredible."
"The film focuses on the need for a companion more than finding love at a senior age, and isn't that true?"
The response of the Kolkata audience to the recent Deepti-starrer 'Memories in March', filmed by debutante filmmaker Sanjoy Nag, was a pointer to the fact that actors and directors look towards this city for experimental works,
Farooq pointed out.
The Kolkata audience had always been receptive to first-time directors with fresh ideas and also liked the pair previously, the actor said.
"Kolkata has supported good films even if they are made with shoe-string budgets. And after Manikda's (Satyajit Ray) 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi' in 1977, I am ready to turn up in projects of directors like Rituparno (Ghosh) and Goutam
(Ghose)," Farooqu said.
Listen Amaya was the closing film and also won the Best Director and Best Feature Film at the NJISACF (New Jersey), the centrepiece film at CSAFF (Chicago), and the opening film at IIFF (Tampa - Florida).
It is also the opening film at the prestigious London Asian Film Festival due on March 7.
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