Veteran actor Nana Patekar has died, and Akshay Kumar is among the first major names in Hindi cinema to respond. Patekar’s career spanned decades, and Akshay had a front-row view of it in two very different phases: the 2007 comedy Welcome and the more recent Housefull 5.
Akshay posted on X on Thursday, remembering an actor who did not need grand gestures to hold the screen. “He was one of those rare actors who never needed to do too much to make you sit up and watch,” he wrote. “That voice, that intensity, that honesty in every performance… he was completely his own.”
He described Patekar as “truly one of a kind” and said the news was difficult to accept. “It’s hard to believe you’re gone. Thank you for all the memories,” Akshay wrote.
Uday Shetty, a comedy character that stuck
For Hindi film fans, the first image that comes to mind is likely Uday Shetty from Welcome. Patekar played the role opposite Akshay’s Rajiv, with Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Paresh Rawal and Mallika Sherawat in the ensemble. The film’s strength was its casting, and Patekar’s Uday Shetty became one of its most referenced performances.
The role still works because Patekar underplayed it. Uday Shetty could be dangerous and childlike in the same scene, and Akshay’s note about Patekar being his own shows why the character has outlasted many louder comic performances.
Two collaborations, one long association
Akshay said he felt fortunate to have worked with Patekar in Welcome and then again in Housefull 5. That span gave the two actors a long professional association, from one of Hindi cinema’s most loved comedies to a newer instalment.
- Patekar’s career ran for decades across Hindi cinema.
- Akshay remembered his honesty, intensity and unmistakable voice.
- The two actors worked together in Welcome and Housefull 5.
Why this loss is being felt widely
Patekar’s death leaves the Hindi film industry without one of its most acclaimed performers. The mourning is not limited to one generation of viewers. Some know him for his intense dramatic work; others know him because Welcome has stayed in rotation for years.
That double legacy is what Akshay’s tribute captures: an actor respected by the industry and loved by the audience at the same time. To remember him, fans can revisit Welcome for Uday Shetty’s best moments, and his Housefull 5 work now carries extra resonance.
Source: Hindustan Times