New Delhi: Director Prakash Jha has said that he was supposed to shoot Raajneeti 2 next year with actor Nana Patekar, who died on Thursday at his residence in Goa.
“I was supposed to start Raajneeti 2 with Nana next year. Now who will I get in his place? Nana was irreplaceable. All our work together – Apaharan, Raajneeti, Sankalp – were special,” he told Variety India.
Raajneeti, which released in 2010, starred Nana Patekar alongside Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpayee, Sarah Thompson, and Naseeruddin Shah. It revolved around political rivalry and was promoted as “politics and beyond.”
During the shoot of the film in Bhopal, Jha and Nana had a fight over a small scene in October 2009. Jha said that Nana was throwing tantrums when he reached the sets.
“I wanted to shoot a scene in a particular way and he wanted it done in a different way. I tried to reason with him but he just lost his cool and said, ‘Mujhe tumhare saath kaam hi nahin karna hai’,” Jha said in 2009.
Jha also said that after Nana left the sets, he reworked the scene and started working with other actors.
“When you walk away from sets, you cross all the limits. When he was told that I was shooting despite his absence, he called to ask how I was shooting without him,” the director said.
Also read: Nana Patekar’s Tamil cinema journey – From Bommalattam to Kaala
‘Volatile and passionate’
Now, after Patekar’s demise, Jha recalled how they did a lot of work together and also had tiffs.
“I was one of the few directors who could control his temper. We would argue and not speak for days, weeks, even months. And then, he would be okay again. Nana was very volatile, very passionate,” Jha said.
Jha also said that when he was working for flood victims in Bihar in 2008, Nana sent him a huge amount for relief work.
“I remember while I was working with flood victims in Bihar, he quietly sent me a huge amount of money for relief work. The most basic thing I can say about Nana is that he was one of his kind”.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)