Nana Patekar’s death on October 8 at 75 closed a career defined by Hindi and Marathi cinema. It also left a quieter what-if: the Hindi Iyer the Great that director Bhadran spent years wanting to make with him. In the long history of Hindi remakes of South Indian thrillers, it stands as one of the more tantalising near-misses – cast, championed and then quietly abandoned.
The pitch that won Patekar over
Iyer the Great turned on a strange accident: Soorya Narayanan climbs a tree to rescue his parrot, is stranded, looks down and suffers vertigo, and wakes with the ability to foresee the future. Mammootty played the part in Malayalam, and the film had also found an audience in Tamil Nadu.
Bhadran and producer Goodknight Mohan believed the story could work on a larger, Hindi stage. Mohan, a friend of Patekar’s, arranged a meeting in Mumbai, and Bhadran was already sure of the casting.
“There was no one else who I could envision to reprise Mammootty’s role in the Hindi version. Nana had the looks and the figure to make him the Soorya Narayanan in Hindi,” Bhadran told On Manorama.
The pitch hinged on one line, delivered at the character’s turning point: “The next day, it is a new dawn.” Patekar’s reaction was physical and immediate – he jumped from his chair, hugged the director and bit his cheek. “If you know him, you would know how expressive he is. He was completely blown away by that peak point of the film,” Bhadran said.
Two near-misses
The enthusiasm never translated into a production. The Hindi remake stayed at the discussion stage, and Bhadran moved on to Spadikam, the Mohanlal-starrer that became a defining film. Patekar saw it too, and Bhadran said he would gladly have remade that in Hindi if the actor had initiated talks.
The pattern repeated with Udayon (2005). Bhadran considered Patekar for Unni Vaidyan, a close friend of Kunju and Maya’s uncle. This time the obstacle was concrete.
- Iyer the Great: casting settled in spirit, never greenlit.
- Spadikam: Patekar watched it, no remake was proposed.
- Udayon: Patekar liked the story but would only act in Malayalam if he could dub his own lines.
The role eventually went to Nassar. The language barrier – specifically, an actor’s control over his own voice – ended the collaboration before it began.
The remark, explained
At the International Film Festival of Kerala in 2023, Patekar said he had never been approached for a Malayalam film. Bhadran offered a gentle correction: the approach did happen, it just never became a film.
“The projects I spoke to him about never materialised. That is probably what made him say that,” the director added.
It is a reminder of how much casting history exists only in conversations – roles offered over meetings, accepted with a hug, and lost to scheduling or language before a single shot is taken. Patekar, born Vishwanath Gajanan Patekar, died in Goa after a suspected cardiac arrest; his last rites were performed with full state honours.
Source: The Times of India
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