Nana Patekar, the actor whose feral intensity made Parinda, Krantiveer and Agneepath impossible to forget, died early Thursday in Goa. He was 75.
Patekar was found unconscious at his residence in the early hours. He was taken to a private hospital, where doctors tried to revive him for nearly 45 minutes. He was declared dead at around 5:20 a.m.
Dr Shekhar Salkar, Chief of the Department of Oncology at Manipal Hospital, said Patekar remained in asystole during the resuscitation attempt—an absence of electrical activity in the heart. A medico-legal case has been registered and a post-mortem is expected.
A friend’s last memory
Tukaram Mundhe, Commissioner of Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration, called Patekar a close friend. The two had spoken eight days earlier. Patekar’s final words to him, Mundhe wrote, were “Love you, Bala.”
Mundhe said the actor was not only an exceptional artist but also a warm, affectionate presence—one of those rare people who leave a part of themselves in the lives of others.
A screen force for four decades
Patekar’s career moved between parallel cinema and mainstream stardom long before that crossing became common. His celebrated work includes:
- Parinda and Salaam Bombay!: early, unsentimental portraits of violence and city life
- Krantiveer, Agneepath, Ab Tak Chhappan, The Attacks of 26/11: ferocity and moral ambiguity in police and street roles
- Welcome: a comic turn that widened his mainstream reach
He remained active in recent years, appearing in Housefull 5, a police role in Vishal Bhardwaj’s O’ Romeo, and a cameo in Subedar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those who paid tribute to his contribution to Hindi and Marathi cinema.
Why his loss lands heavily
Patekar was not merely a star. He was a bridge: an actor trained in theatre who brought the grammar of the street to both art-house and mass films. That combination is rarer now, and his death closes a chapter of Hindi cinema that valued unpredictability as much as polish.
The immediate details—45 minutes of resuscitation, the asystole recorded by doctors, the pending post-mortem—will shape the official record. The larger record is already secure: a body of work that made audience discomfort feel like cinema at its most alive.
Source: The Times of India
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