Veteran actor Nana Patekar died on October 8 at the age of 75, following a cardiac arrest at his residence in Goa. He is survived by his wife, Neelkanti, and son, Malhar Patekar.
Reports say Nana had messaged a friend around 2.30am saying he was not feeling well, and also called him. By the time the friend reached his residence, he had become unconscious. He was taken to Manipal Hospital, where doctors tried cardiac massage for around 45 minutes, but he remained unresponsive.
The help he never publicised
For many, Nana Patekar was a magnetic screen presence — a National Award-winning actor whose intensity was hard to match. But his off-screen record carried the same weight. In August, at the launch of Shankar Mahadevan’s song Khaki Ka Sitara, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said Nana was “not only an actor” but “an equally sensitive human being”. He recalled how the actor stepped in when farmers in Maharashtra were dying by suicide on a large scale.
“I was very surprised. Such a big actor was working for farmers, but it was true,” Yogi said, adding that Nana did the work “without any publicity or fanfare”.
From Maharashtra farms to border families
The Nirmala Gajanan Foundation, run by Nana, collaborated with the Indian Army to deliver rehabilitation assistance worth ₹42 lakh to 117 families in the Rajouri and Poonch districts. Those families were severely affected by cross-border shelling after Operation Sindoor.
- Quietly helped Maharashtra’s farmers during the farmer-suicide crisis, as recalled by CM Yogi Adityanath.
- Nirmala Gajanan Foundation and the Indian Army delivered ₹42 lakh in aid to 117 border families after Operation Sindoor.
- Lent his presence to a UP Police cyber-security short film on online threats, including digital arrest scams.
“Collective responsibility, not favours”
Nana had stressed that helping those in distress should be seen as a collective responsibility rather than an act of charity. “We haven’t done any favours to any of them. This is what everyone should do,” he said.
He also pointed to Johnny Lever and other Hindi film industry colleagues who give quietly: “If we don’t do it, then who else will?”
For fans, the loss is of a rare actor whose silence could do as much as his lines. For those who knew his other work, it is also the loss of a man who treated help as a duty, not a headline.
Source: Hindustan Times