Nana Patekar, the Indian Hindi and Marathi film actor whose roles ranged from the menacing crime lord in “Parinda” to the comical gangster in “Welcome”, died on October 8 at his residence in Goa. He was 75 years old.
Patekar suffered a cardiac arrest at his home and was pronounced dead at 5:20 a.m. local time, news agency ANI reported. “Despite 45 minutes of continuous CPR, he could not be resuscitated,” Dr Shekhar Salkar, head of the oncology department at Manipal Hospital, told ANI. Salkar said a forensic case had been opened and a post-mortem would follow.
Born Vishwanath Patekar in Murud-Janjira, in what is now Raigad district in western India in the state of Maharashtra, he studied at the Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai. Her first stage role came under director Vijaya Mehta. He made his film debut in “Gaman” in 1978 and spent the next decade in smaller roles in Marathi and Hindi, including a role in “Salaam Bombay!” » by Mira Nair, Oscar nominee! (1988).
His breakthrough came with “Parinda” (1989), in which he played a crime lord. This role won him an Indian National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Filmfare Award in the same category. Patekar also directed “Prahaar: The Final Attack” (1991), alongside Madhuri Dixit, and underwent military training to prepare for his role as an officer.
“Krantiveer” (1994), in which he played a disgraced gambler who eventually rallied common people to fight back, won him the Indian National Film Award for Best Actor as well as the Filmfare and Screen Awards. A second National Award for Supporting Actor followed for “Agni Sakshi” (1996). The same year, he played Manisha Koirala’s deaf parent in “Khamoshi: The Musical”.
He also won Filmfare’s Best Villain Award twice, for “Angaar” (1992) and “Apaharan” (2005). Only he and Irrfan Khan have won Filmfare trophies for Leading Player, Supporting Actor and Villain.
In the 2000s, he played a specialist in police encounters in “Ab Tak Chhappan” (2004) and a taxi driver opposite John Abraham in “Taxi No. 9211” (2006). With “Welcome” (2007), in which he played Uday Shetty, a mafia boss with thwarted movie star ambitions, he found a new audience and returned to the role in “Welcome Back” (2015). He played a politician in ‘Raajneeti’ (2010).
In Marathi cinema, he won the Filmfare Marathi Best Actor Awards for “Dr. Prakash Baba Amte – The Real Hero” (2014) and “Natsamrat” (2016), in which he played the role of an aging theater veteran. He was the Hindi voice of Shere Khan in “The Jungle Book” (2016) and appeared alongside Rajinikanth in the Tamil film “Kaala” (2018).
Later credits include “The Vaccine War” (2023), “Vanvaas” (2024) and “Housefull 5” (2025). This year, he starred in the series ‘Sankalp’ on Amazon MX Player and appeared alongside Shahid Kapoor in ‘O’Romeo’.
Patekar was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor, in 2013. He was commissioned into the Territorial Army in 1988 with the rank of captain. During the Kargil conflict in 1999, he was posted to the Maratha Light Infantry, with the rank of major, and had risen to lieutenant colonel by the time he left in 2013. In 2015, he launched the Naam Foundation alongside Makarand Anaspure to support drought-affected farmers in Maharashtra.
His later years were also marked by controversy. Actor Tanushree Dutta accused him in 2008 of harassing her on the set of “Horn ‘Ok’ Pleassss”, and she repeated the allegation in 2018. His accusations helped spark the #MeToo movement in the Hindi film industry. Mumbai Police filed a case against Patekar and three others in October 2018, but filed a closure report in June 2019. Patekar has consistently denied the allegations.
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