There are some actors you watch and immediately know you’re watching them. Indian filmstar Nana Patekar had that kind of presence. That voice, those expressions, the way he could suddenly turn up the intensity of a scene — even when he wasn’t saying much, you noticed him.
Nana Patekar has died at the age of 75 after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Goa. His passing brings an end to a career that stretched across almost five decades. He worked in both Hindi and Marathi cinema and gave us films like Parinda, Krantiveer, Ab Tak Chhappan, Raajneeti, Natsamrat and, of course, Welcome. He also won three National Film Awards and received the Padma Shri.
One of his most widely acclaimed roles was that of Baba Golub that earned him wider international recognition in filmmaker Mira Nair’s Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay!
“Yeh shehar kisi ka nahi hai” (“This city belongs to no one”), remains a dialogue that stayed with audiences as it marked a character-defining for Nana Patekar – Baba Golub was a ruthless, predatory drug dealer and pimp operating in the harsh red-light districts and streets of Mumbai. Even though it was a supporting role, the performance was widely considered a masterclass, especially for his terrifyingly nuanced depiction of the character.
We’ve Seen So Many Versions Of Nana Patekar
What makes his filmography so interesting is that you really can’t put him in one box.
There was the Nana Patekar of Parinda, intense and frightening. There was Krantiveer, where he delivered the kind of performance that earned him the National Award for Best Actor. There was Ab Tak Chhappan, where that controlled anger became part of the character. And then there was Welcome, where suddenly this incredibly serious actor was making an entire generation laugh as Uday Shetty.
And yes, “Control Uday, control!” became a thing.
Honestly, how many actors can go from performances that win National Awards to becoming the face of one of Bollywood’s most endlessly quotable comedy characters?
That range was Nana Patekar.
The Man Behind The Actor Was Surprisingly Private
Despite being one of India’s most recognisable actors, Nana Patekar didn’t really live his personal life like a typical celebrity. He was married to actor and writer Neelakanti Patekar in 1978, and the couple largely stayed away from the constant public spectacle around their relationship. They lived separately for many years but reportedly remained married, choosing not to divorce formally. They had two sons, although their first child died at around two and a half years old. Their surviving son, Malhar, later worked in filmmaking.
Nana has described Neelakanti as his pillar of strength revealing that while their romantic and emotional connection waned, they harboured mutual respect and supported each other through tough times.
But perhaps what says more about Nana as a person is what he did with his success. He came from a family that experienced serious financial hardship and, even after becoming a huge actor, remained attached to a fairly simple life. He continued farming, enjoyed cooking for friends and became deeply involved in helping farmers and their families. In 2015, he and actor Makarand Anaspure established the Naam Foundation to work with communities affected by drought, farmer distress and water shortages in Maharashtra.
And he apparently wasn’t interested in making his own son a star simply because he could. Nana chose not to use his influence to launch Malhar in Bollywood, believing that his son should find his own way and build his own career. That tells you quite a bit about the kind of person he was away from the cameras.
For many of us, Nana Patekar wasn’t necessarily an actor whose entire filmography we sat down and studied. Some simply knew him.
Nana Patekar won three National Film Awards and received the Padma Shri in 2013, alongside numerous other honours for his work. You’d hear one of his dialogues and immediately know which film it came from. You’d see him in a serious role and remember just how different he could be.
That’s the strange thing about losing actors who have been around for so long. They become part of the background of your life without you even realising it.
Nana Patekar was part of so many different kinds of movies and, somehow, so many different generations of moviegoers. At 75, he leaves behind a career that is genuinely difficult to summarise because there was never just one Nana Patekar.
Sourves: Reuters, IMDb, Al-Jazeera, Filmfare, Washington Post
Sam Neill – A Five-Decade Career in Film and Television
Follow us on Instagram
