Screenwriter Juhi Chaturvedi took to Instagram to mourn the demise of Jaffer. Sharing a photo, she wrote, “begum gayiin. Farrukh ji…na aap jaisa koi tha aur na hoga.. dil se shukriya jo aapne humko aapse rishta jodne ki ijaazat di… ab allah ki uss duniya mein hifaazat se rahiyega…RIP #FarrukhJaffar #Begum #FattoBi #FatimaBegum #GulaboSitabo. (Begum is gone! Farrukh ji, there was no one, and there will be no one like you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing us to connect with you. Please stay safe in the other world of Allah. RIP #FarrukhJaffar #Begum #FattoBi #FatimaBegum #GulaboSitabo)”

Farrukh Jaffer was born in 1933 in Jaunpur in a zamindar family. She moved to Lucknow at the age of 16, after her marriage to journalist and freedom fighter Syed Muhammad Jaffer who encouraged her to study and be a part of theatre and films.

Jaffer graduated from Lucknow University and soon landed a job at the All India Radio. She went on to become one of the first female voices at AIR, Lucknow. But she quit the job in 1966 to help her widowed mother to take care of their agricultural lands in Jaunpur. She eventually moved to Delhi after her husband’s posting there, and joined AIR’s Urdu service, while also attending acting workshops by Ebrahim Alkazi.

Farrukh Jaffer made her film debut with Muzaffar Ali’s classic Umrao Jaan (1981), in which she played Rekha’s mother. Her second film Swades (2004) came after 23 years, followed by Peepli Live, Chakravyuh, Sultan and Tanu Weds Manu. She also played the lead role in Narayan Chauhan’s Ammaa ki Boli (2019).

In fact, Jaffer did nearly a dozen films in the last 20 years, including Gulabo Sitabo. At 88, she won the Best Supporting Actress Filmfare Award for the Shoojit Sircar directorial, becoming the oldest winner in the acting category.

Her films Mehrunisa, Raks, Kundan Nandy’s next and some short films are yet to release.

Farrukh Jaffer is survived by two daughters.