Nana Patekar, the actor whose sharp dialogue delivery and intense screen presence made him one of Hindi cinema’s most distinct performers, has died at 75. He suffered a heart attack in Goa on the morning of October 8.
The news has brought an old interview back into focus, in which he recalled how he entered films and the boundaries he refused to compromise.
He almost walked out of his first film
In an August 2015 conversation with Bombay Times, Nana Patekar said he had not planned to join cinema. Smita Patil, who knew him from Pune, was already working in films and insisted he take a chance. She took him to Ravi Chopra for Aaj Ki Awaz (1984).
What he was first offered, he said, was a “lousy role of one of the rapists,” and he declined. On his way out, Smita Patil asked why he was leaving. He told her he had abused the person who offered the role. After that, he was given a better part. “Which also was not great, but I got recognized for that film,” he said.
For a performer who built a reputation on intense, lived-in characters, that refusal was an early defining line. He was willing to wait for a part that, even if imperfect, gave the industry a reason to notice him.
A friendship with Ajay Devgn that lasted
Years later, Ajay Devgn produced Nana Patekar’s Marathi film Aapla Manus, and the actor made a cameo in Golmaal Again solely for his friend. Speaking to Mumbai Mirror in February 2018, Nana said simply, “Humari dosti marte dum tak rahegi” — our friendship will remain till death.
Why he sometimes walked away
He was also frank about his reputation for losing patience on set. In a Mid-Day interview the same month, he said he interferes a lot and has walked out when scripts were not written in advance.
- Aaj Ki Awaz (1984): Smita Patil took him to Ravi Chopra, and he got noticed after refusing the first role.
- Aapla Manus: Produced by Ajay Devgn, showing their enduring bond.
- Golmaal Again (2017): His brief cameo was done only for Ajay Devgn.
“I may sound arrogant, but it’s true that I interfere a lot on the sets,” he told Mid-Day. “I am not a machine. I can’t learn the lines in half an hour.”
Across the three interviews, the same quality repeats: he named the people who mattered—Smita Patil for the first break, Ajay Devgn for friendship—and he was precise about what he would not tolerate. That refusal to fake it, on screen or behind it, is part of what fans are remembering today.
Source: bollywoodHungama.com