“It’s really a sad day for me. She worked with me in three films (Mammo, Sardari Begum, and Zubeidaa). Before working in films, she was a brilliant theater actor. She graduated from the National School of Drama and she was absolutely fantastic on stage. She was Ebrahim Alkazi’s student so she had trained under the best theater teacher in our country. Surekha was one of the finest actors in the Delhi theater scene. It was for livelihood reasons that she shifted her base to Mumbai and started working in films.
She was an evolved actor and there was no doubt about her acting skills. I had seen her performing in Delhi, which is why I had cast her in all my films. I remember I didn’t have to brief her. She never wasted anybody’s time. She came absolutely prepared for the scenes. She knew her dialogues thoroughly and was also aware of the dialogues by her co-actors. Working with her was like a breeze. And her hard work would be seen in all her performances which came out brilliantly. Surekha’s enthusiasm was infectious. She always wanted to give her best and would keep pushing herself. The fact that she won a National Award for her performance in Badhaai Ho at this age speaks about the kind of excellence she would always strive to achieve.
After Zubeidaa, I didn’t have the opportunity to work with her, as I also slowed down on work and she too wasn’t very active. I didn’t know her personally. My relationship with her was more professional. I hadn’t met her for the last six to seven years. It’s a big loss for theater and cinema.”
(As told to News18.com)
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