Obit: Curtains fall on Indian cinema’s ‘Natsamrat’, writes Disney Brar

Veteran actor Nana Patekar passed away on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at the age of 75 in Goa, after suffering a massive cardiac arrest. His son Malhar Patekar confirmed the news. Patekar was found unconscious at his residence in Dona Paula and was taken to Manipal Hospital, where his death was confirmed in the early hours of the morning. 

Nana Patekar was an actor par excellence who owned the silver screen in every frame he appeared in. His power-packed performances, laced with his trademark sarcastic wit, razor-sharp dialogue delivery, and inherent aggression, made his competitors squirm in their plush seats. He was the face of India’s middle-class man who never gets his rights on a platter but has to fight tooth and nail for them. He embodied the Indian temper and the voice of a generation. He was never the quintessential hero of Indian cinema, yet he owned the crown when it came to acting in its most impressive and hard-hitting form. His screen presence was unpredictable, intense, and fiercely individualistic. He didn’t just perform the roles he was offered; he took literal possession of them. Likewise, he didn’t just turn heads; he owned every room he walked into. He was a phenomenal actor who commanded a formidable presence on and off screen. 

There will never be another quite like him

Born Vishwanath Patekar in Murud-Janjira in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, he studied at Mumbai’s Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art. Before becoming an actor, he worked as a movie poster painter and painted zebra crossings across Bombay to earn money. Painting was his passion, and he eventually wanted to return to painting. Nana started his career as an advertising professional but later chose theatre to earn more.  

His first stage role came under director Vijaya Mehta. He made his film debut in ‘Gaman’ in 1978. The acclaimed actor built a career spanning nearly five decades across Hindi and Marathi cinema. He won three National Film Awards and received the Padma Shri in 2013 for his contribution to Indian cinema. What made him an unmatched titan of Indian cinema was the burning passion and profound depth of his portrayals across his long innings in Indian cinema.

A bouquet of stellar performances

Nana Patekar shot to the top by portraying characters which were raw, volatile, morally grey and largely eccentric. His breakthrough came as the menacing crime lord Anna Seth in Parinda (1989)-a film which fetched him the Indian National Film Award for the best supporting actor and the Filmfare award in the same category. After which Patekar acted, co-wrote, and directed ‘Prahaar: The Final Attack’ (1994), a film which revealed his dedication to his craft; in the film, we saw Nana as Major Chauhan, an army officer who runs a gruelling commando training centre and turns vigilante after a former trainee is killed by gangsters extorting his family’s bakery. 

Then came Krantiveer (1994) a critically acclaimed action-crime drama in which Nana played a disgraced gambler who ends up rallying people to fight back, the film won him the Indian National Film Award for best actor along with Filmfare and Screen awards, it was followed by a second National Award for supporting actor for playing an abusive husband in Agni Sakshi (1996). In the same year, we saw Nana play Joseph, the deaf father of Manisha Koirala, in ‘Khamoshi: The Musical ’, a film that proved his mettle as an actor and earned him one of the gentlest performances of his career. Nana also won Filmfare’s Best Villain Award twice, for ‘Angaar’ (1992) and ‘Apaharan’ (2005).

In 2004, we saw Nana deliver a powerful performance as Sadhu Agashe, a police encounter specialist, in ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’ and as a taxi driver in ‘Taxi No. 9211’ (2006).  While in Raajneeti (2010), we saw him as a politician.  In Yeshwant (1994), his dialogue about a mosquito became one of Hindi cinema’s most quoted lines. Nana also acted in several of India’s arthouse movies in the 1970s and 80s, including the role of a drug-dealer baba in Mira Nair’s Oscar-nominated film ‘Salaam Bombay!’ in 1988, before moving on to mainstream Bollywood. 

One oddity of his career was the film Welcome, in which Nana proved his versatility by choosing a character who instantly became the audience’s favourite: Uday Shetty, a mafia boss with thwarted movie-star ambitions, and he returned to the part in 2015 with ‘Welcome Back’. 

In Marathi cinema, Nana won Filmfare Marathi Best Actor awards for ‘Dr. Prakash Baba Amte-The Real Hero’ (2014) and ‘Natsamrat’ (2016), in which he was seen as an aging theatre veteran. He voiced Sher Khan in the Hindi version of ‘The Jungle Book’ (2016) and also appeared opposite Rajinikanth in the Tamil film ‘Kaala’ (2018). This year, he appeared in the series ‘Sankalp’ on Amazon MX Player and alongside Shahid Kapoor in ‘O Romeo’.

Nana Patekar’s upcoming projects which will now be released posthumously will be-Shakti Shalini which is a horror comedy, Etha- a biographical drama inspired by the life of Vithabai Narayangaonkar, The Confession of Mary which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Kuku Ki kundali which is a love story and Vedanta.

“Humari zindagi udhar ki hai na”

Nana Patekar once reflected on how artists spend their lives living different characters, who rarely find time to live for themselves. For them, life becomes a lens viewed through the eyes of the characters they essay on stage and screen, and that becomes their way of life. He compared an actor’s life to performing on stage under the spotlight. He also said actors have to find their own happiness in the darkness beyond the spotlight on their face, and that the echo of thundering applause from the audience becomes an addiction. And the day that voice stops is the day that an actor dies.

He also spoke about death at the Samraat Club International installation ceremony in Goa recently, where he was seen wearing a crisp white kurta complemented with a white ‘gamcha’. As if he had an inkling of his impending death, he went on to say that everyone has to die someday: “We all have to go someday. I don’t know whether I will be here tomorrow or not. Every person’s life will eventually reach that point. But before that happens, I have to ask myself: Am I able to do what I want to do, and what have I done in life?” said the actor in Marathi while addressing the gathering at the event.

His quiet Philanthropy

Beneath the intimidating exterior of Nana Patekar, as we all know him, was a deeply benevolent and humane being. His compassion, humanitarian work and commitment to social causes is widely known including his initiatives supporting Maharashtra farmers hit by drought through the Naam Foundation which he founded alongside Makarand Anaspure. Beyond the towering screen presence was a very real person who wore his heart on his sleeve, an honest and fearless person who was always true to himself.

Not many know he was commissioned into the Territorial Army in 1988 as a captain. During the 1999 Kargil conflict, he served with the Maratha Light Infantry as a major and rose to lieutenant colonel by the time he left in 2013, making him the only actor to have served on the front lines for his country. 

The Controversy

His latter years were marred by a controversy when actor Tanushree Dutta accused him of harassing her on the sets of the film ‘Horn Ok Pleassss’ in 2008. She repeated the allegation in 2018. Her accusations sparked the ‘# Me Too’ movement in the Hindi film industry. Mumbai police registered a case against Patekar and three others in October 2018 but filed a closure report in June 2019 due to a lack of evidence. Nana consistently denied the allegations all through.

A heartfelt farewell 

Tributes have poured in from across the film fraternity, political circles, and other prominent personalities from diverse fields, mourning the loss of this priceless gem of Indian cinema. The actor is survived by his wife, whom he was separated from, and a son.

Nana Patekar’s passing has left a deep void that will be difficult to fill for decades to come. But let this remarkable actor’s simple life, priceless wisdom, and the beautiful collection of memories left behind in his resplendent repertoire of work live on as a legacy for all his fans to partake in.

In Nana’s words, “I’ve always had a chin-up attitude. I don’t cry. I cry only in the movies, and I do that for money.”  And today we can actually picture him walking chin-up into the divine light and probably into another frame, which will be filmed on the other side.

Rest in peace, dear sir. You shall be missed.