Legendary actor Saeed Jaffrey dies

A Passage To India star was 86.

by Jennie Kermode

Saeed Jaffrey in My Beautiful Laundrette
Saeed Jaffrey in My Beautiful Laundrette

Titles like Ram Teri Ganga Maili and Shatranj Ke Khiladi made him one of India's greatest screen star, but Saeed Jaffrey was also beloved of British viewers, starring in classics like A Passage To India, My Beautiful Laundrette and Gandhi. Now he has died at the age of 86.

A Punjabi actor who got an early break in Z-Cars, Jaffrey got his first big screen role in James Ivory's British-Indian co-production The Guru in 1969. He would later appear in TV series The Advetures Of Black Beauty, Gangsters, Tandoori Nights and Coronation Street. The first Indian to receive an OBE, he also won praise for his work in radio and theatre, taking his theatre company across the US to perform Shakespeare plays.

Jaffrey is survived by his daughters Meera, Zia, and actress Sakina Jaffrey, from his marriage to actress and writer Madhur Jaffrey, which ended in 1965. His death was announced by his niece, Shaheen Aggarwal, who wrote "Saeed Jaffrey has joined his brothers and sister and is rejoicing in the lap of his Heavenly Father, eternally. The entire Jaffrey Family bids you, "adieu", you beautiful, beautiful man See you in heaven!"

Share this with others on...
News

Underrepresented stories Laura Green and Anna Moot-Levin on Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s

Between strangers Anthony Chen in capturing emotion in Drift

Art of observation Matthäus Wörle on his collaborative approach to debut documentary Where We Used To Sleep

Gateway between worlds Anu Valia on expectations, reality and We Strangers

The little things Inside the 2024 Glasgow Short Film Festival

Choosing her colours Joe Lawlor and Christine Malloy on Rose Dugdale and Baltimore

Filmhouse gets £1.5m funding boost Edinburgh cultural hub set to reopen this year

More news and features

Interact

More competitions coming soon.