Nana Patekar died early on Thursday in Goa at the age of 75, and the first wave of tributes came quickly from across Hindi and Marathi cinema. But the most closely watched reaction was also the most difficult to parse: Tanushree Dutta, whose 2018 allegation against the actor became one of Indian entertainment’s early #MeToo flashpoints, responded in a social media video while travelling to Lucknow for an event.
A workday interrupted by memory
Dutta did not name Patekar in the video. She said she had heard the news, wanted to keep her attention on her Lucknow event, and was still deciding what kind of response the moment called for. “I will give my reaction once I figure out what kind of reaction I should have,” she said, before adding, “So, definitely, condolences to the family.”
The awkwardness was not hidden. “What an odd day for all this to happen, because I am doing a very big event in Lucknow,” she said, noting that the media attention would now shift from her professional plans to the death and to her response.
The facts of his passing
- Patekar was brought to Manipal Hospital in Dona Paula, Goa, around 4:20 am on Thursday.
- Doctors attempted revival for roughly 45 minutes to an hour.
- He was declared dead at 5:20 am, aged 75; last rites are scheduled in Pune with full state honours.
Maharashtra Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Shelar said the state honour was in recognition of Patekar’s contribution to Marathi theatre and to Marathi and Hindi cinema.
The allegation that frames the mourning
Dutta’s reaction cannot be separated from the record. In 2018 she alleged that Patekar behaved inappropriately with her during the making of Horn ‘Ok’ Pleassss, a claim Patekar denied as false. Her account arrived as the #MeToo reckoning was only beginning to gain momentum in India, and it made her one of the movement’s early, visible figures in Hindi cinema.
The controversy did not lead to a clear institutional resolution in the industry. What it did leave was a durable question about how public memory should hold two things at once: Patekar’s formidable body of work and a serious allegation that remains part of the historical record.
Why the response matters now
Deaths of celebrated actors usually produce a unified grammar of grief: tributes for craft, presence, voice. Dutta’s response made space for something messier. She offered sympathy without pretending the past did not exist, and she asked for time rather than performing a sentence the public expected.
That is one of the more honest gestures possible in a media environment that demands instant statements. For our readers, it is a reminder that the history of Hindi cinema is not only films and box office; it is also the unresolved conversations about power, safety and silence.
Source: ETV Bharat National
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