Long-time writer Shafeeq Ansari died on Tuesday, 2 November, at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. He had been suffering from an illness for some time. His demise was confirmed to Cinestaan by his Baghban (2003) co-writer Ram Govind.
The 84-year-old veteran screenwriter started out writing dialogues with the Hindi film Dost (1974) which starred Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha. He also wrote dialogues for another Dharmendra film, Dil Kaa Heera (1979), which featured Hema Malini. The films Izzatdaar (1990), with Dilip Kumar, Govinda and Madhuri Dixit, and Pyar Hua Chori Chori (1991), with Mithun Chakraborty and Gauthami, are also part of his filmography.
His most famous credit was as one of the screenplay and dialogue writers of Ravi Chopra’s family drama Baghban, which featured Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini as parents abandoned by their children.
Ansari is survived by his son Mohsin and a daughter. His last rites were performed yesterday at the Oshiwara Kabristan.