It’s so sad Junaid can’t enjoy his film
JUNAID Ahmed died after suffering a stroke in November, his loss a shock to family, friends and those who revered his commitment to the film industry.
In an interview with The Independent on Saturday, Jailoshini Naidoo recalled her years of friendship with Ahmed, stemming from their time at the University of Durban-Westville’s drama department, where they worked on many productions together.
“Junaid became like a brother… He was my confidant and my best friend in those years. We stayed friends throughout and, although he and I went on with our lives, through the most difficult and challenging times in my life he was my rock. He met Liza (Aziz) and truly found love and happiness with her, and it was so nice to him so happy.
“Even though we both moved on with our lives, we touched base with an occasional phone call, or met for coffee. But with Keeping Up with the Kandasamys, it’s almost like we reconnected. In fact it was because of Junaid that I went to audition in the first place. I didn’t initially, but he called me and asked why I wasn’t auditioning. I said I wasn’t sure and he encouraged me to do so.
“Being on set for this movie was like old times with Junaid. He was the same old fun-loving guy. He had the most amazing sense of humour, tongue in cheek and really witty. He had the wackiest sense of humour,” she laughed.
She said it was “the saddest thing when he got ill so suddenly”.
“He was the most enormously talented person. Not just in terms of movies and film-making, but as a dramatist, as an English scholar, as an actor, as a director he was outstanding. He had such an eye for detail.
“When Happiness is a Four-Letter Word came out, he was like a proud father. He couldn’t stop talking about it. And when this movie came about, he was so proud of it. It’s just so unfortunate that he won’t be able to enjoy it.
“Chatsworth was his home for most of his life. He loved it. Grew up there, lived there most of his life and that was why he was particularly proud of this movie.
“He wanted this movie to be a tribute to Chatsworth. He wanted the people of Chatsworth to feel proud of where they come from. He wanted this to be the first movie of its kind. It was very close to his heart.
“He also has a cameo in this movie,” she said, “and I so fondly remember the day we were shooting that part with him at Bangladesh Market in Chatsworth. True to form, he was always full of pranks… trying to distract me all the time. But that was Junaid, full of fun all the time.”