PERSONAL CAUSE: Shafique, who fights the tobacco scourge in the film, was a gutka addict
Leading Man Is In Advanced Stage Of Cancer
Mateen Hafeez | TNN
Mumbai: Anxious over Malegaon ka Superman’s deteriorating health due to cancer, the film’s director and producers have decided to release the movie on the occasion of Eid. The spoof, where ‘Superman’ fights the menace of tobacco, was scheduled for a December release. However, it will now be released in three weeks as an “Eidi” (Eid gift) for Shaikh Shafique, the 23-year-old lead actor.
Shafique, a residentof Gulab Park in Malegaon, used to chew around 40 packets of gutka a day. He was admitted toTata MemorialCancer Hospital last year where he underwent treatment for cancer. Today, though, he is said to be in an advanced stage of theillness. The movie’s director, Nasir Khan Prince, said that it is “very tough” for the unit to see Shafique in such pain.
“We aredoing our best. We admitted him to Mumbai’s Tata Hospital and the entire billwas paidby actressDeepti Bhatnagar (who is a producer of the television programme Malegaon Ka Chintu). He underwent an operation and is currently at home,” said Prince.
“Our movie is against the menace of tobacco. Sadly, our lead hero fell victim to it,” said Prince. Fed up with his condition, Shafique even “tried to kill himself” on two occasions.
Shafique had been chewing tobacco and gutka since the age of 13. He got married when he was 19 and his wife, Jameela, was just 17. The couple has two daughters; a three-year-old and a twomonth-old. Today, he can’t eat spicy food and his jaw is very sensitive to the temperature of any food. He finds it difficult to even speak.
The 2009 low-budget Malegaon ka Superman was screened at IFFI in Goa in December 2010. It has won awards at film festivals in Los Angeles, Prague, Italy and Pakistan. Shafique, who played ‘Superman’ in the movie, had earlier played various roles in other films made in Malegaon. The Class-VIIdropouthas actedin Khandesh to Goa, Khandesh ki Baraat, Khandesh ka Qarazdar Master, Malegaon ki Lagaan and Khandesh ka Doctor, among such others.
The Times of India, August 16, 2011
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