Panaji, Oct 8 (PTI) Unconventional, complex, intense, diverse. Many adjectives. One man. Nana Patekar.
The adjectives as much a descriptive for the persona as for the actor whose intensity burned through the screen as he traversed genres in films such as “Krantiveer”, “Parinda” and “Welcome”, touching the edges of stardom but never quite becoming the star, content perhaps with the astonishing versatility of the roles offered to him.
Patekar, who earned the reputation of being temperamental and no-nonsense in an industry where diplomacy was a required skill, died on Thursday in his Goa home. He was 75.
“We all have to go someday. I don’t know whether I will be here tomorrow. That time comes in the life of everyone. But before that time comes (we have to think)… am I able to do what I want to do?” Patekar said just four days ago in Dona Paula, the picturesque seaside town he had made his home, far from the glittering lights of tinsel town.
The words were prophetic and reflective.
It had been a chequered life for the actor – accused of sexual harassment by actor Tanushree Dutta, the controversy launching India’s MeToo movement in 2018 – who became breadwinner for his family when he was barely in his teens after his father’s business failed.
Movies changed the trajectory of life for Patekar, who discovered the stage while still in school.
He broke out in theatre with Vijaya Mehta’s “Hamidabai Chi Kothi” that led to more acclaimed performances on stage. In interviews, Patekar often credited Smita Patil for convincing him to try movies. Patekar said he hesitated because he felt his dark complexion would lead to rejection.
The big screen debut came in 1978 with Muzaffar Ali’s “Gaman”, which had Patil and Farookh Sheikh in lead roles. It led to movies such as “Sinhaasan”, “Giddh”, “Aaj Ki Awaz”, “Ankush” and “Pratighaat”.
Ten years later came Mira Nair’s 1988 film “Salaam Bombay!”, which saw him playing a local thug and drug dealer. The role in the Oscar-nominated film brought him instant notice and propelled him into the big league of critically acclaimed actors.
In 1990, Vidhu Vinod Chopra cast him as Anna, the central villain in his acclaimed “Parinda”. The role, still remembered for its quiet menace, won him his first of three National Awards.
He won his second National Film Award, this time as lead actor, for his role in 1994 hit “Krantiveer” as the wayward son of a freedom fighter who transforms and fights for the rights of the poor. His third National award was for the 1996 film “Angni Sakshi”, where he played an abusive husband and stalker.
The roles were as varied as possible, be it Prakash Jha’s “Apaharan” and “Rajneeti”, Marathi film “Natsamrat”, the comedic “Welcome” and “Welcome Back”, Tamil hit “Kaala”, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut “Khamoshi: The Musical”, Gulzar’s “Hu Tu Tu” or Ram Gopal Varma’s “Bhoot”.
Not content with just acting, Patekar took a break at the peak of his career to direct “Prahaar: The Final Attack”, where he played a Maratha Light Infantry officer. The actor trained for two years to play the role.
Patekar used his training to eventually serve during the Kargil conflict in 1999. He sought permission to join soldiers in the war zone from then defence minister George Fernandes. He was allowed after he made his case and became part of a Quick Reaction Team in the Army.
Quite in keeping with his persona of being more than just about the movies, was his work for water conservation and harvesting in rural Maharashtra through his Naam Foundation.
“The assistance he provided to the families of farmers who took their own lives became the support for many families. Nana was not only an outstanding artist and actor but also a person deeply sensitive to social causes,” noted Union minister Nitin Gadkari said.
Patekar, who lived in a one-bhk house in Mumbai, became the mascot of communal harmony with just one dialogue in “Krantiveer” — “Yeh Musalman ka khoon, yeh Hindu ka khoon, bata is mein Musalman ka kaunsa, Hindu ka kaunsa, bata” is still cited as one of the most impactful scenes on communal amity in a mainstream Hindi film.
Activist Suhasini Ali, in her tribute, noted how Patekar was not only an excellent actor but had the ability to change.
“… To transform himself from a fairly bigotted person to someone who understood universality and the need to empathise with humans and animals…
“He assured me that he had reformed in his attitude and behaviour towards women,” she wrote on X.
Patekar also demonstrated impeccable comic timing by slipping in easily to transform into Uday Shetty, a thug with acting aspirations and anger issues in the hit comedy “Welcome”. Uday Shetty’s self talk, “Control Uday”, is now part of popular memes and everyday conversations.
After all, Patekar was also the consummate actor, whether playing Shetty or Joseph Braganza, the gentle deaf mute father and husband from “Khamoshi: The Musical”.
He was born Vishwanath Patekar into a Marathi family in Murud-Janjira in Raigad district as the youngest of three brothers on January 1, 1951. Their father had a small business but that collapsed.
In an interview with PTI in December 2024, Patekar recalled how his stage name came to be. “There was an aunt who first started calling me Nanu Nanu… Now even my passport has Nana,” he said.
Patekar told Bombay Times that he was forced to earn when he was just 13, travelling for miles to print film posters for a Parsi businessman. It would earn him Rs 35 a month and one meal a day.
The actor’s father passed away when he was 28 and still to make his mark in movies, a regret the actor always carried with him.
Patekar and his family continued to struggle financially for a long time. After graduating from Sir J J School of Art, he joined an ad company that he left to pursue his theatre dreams. He got married around this time to Neelkanti, who worked in a bank and pursued theatre as a hobby.
The couple had a child, Durvasa, who was born with a cleft lip and died just two and a half years later. They were then blessed with another son, Malhar.
The years of financial and personal stress took their toll, making him the angry man of so many of his movies.
In 2018, when he hit the headlines following the allegations of sexual harassment, Patekar strenuously denied Dutta’s claims. But the taint remained.
An FIR was registered and the case filed in a local court. It was closed due to insufficient evidence.
His last major role was as DCP Ismail Khan in Vishal Bhardwaj’s “O’ Romeo” in February this year as an officer who recruits a gangster to target a don operating out of India.
As his family, friends and fans bid him adieu, the one scene from “Welcome” plays out in a loop in any number of memes on any number of issues – Patekar laughing uproariously and helplessly. Segueing from films to contemporary discourse, that’s how fans will remember him.
Travel well Nana Patekar. PTI BK RB MIN ZMN
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