Renowned stage and film actor Nana Patekar passed away early morning today, in Goa, due to cardiac arrest. He was 75 and is survived by his wife Neelkanti and son Malhar , who live in Mumbai. Nana, who spent his past few years at his farm house in Donaje, near Pune, was on a visit to Goa, to attend some functions, where he was invited as a special guest.
Born as Vishwanath Patekar in Murud-Janjira in Maharashtra, he spent most of his life in Mumbai. He studied from Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art and thereafter switched over to acting profession on Marathi stage, with the support of some big names like Ms. Vijaya Mehta, Arwind Deshpande, Sulbha Deshpande, Ashok Saraf and others.
With the help of his stage experience, he made his debut in films through Muzaffar Ali’s film ‘Gaman’ in 1978, but shot into fame with his performance in N.Chandra’s film ‘Ankush’. Thereafter, there was no stopping for him, as he was offered variety of roles by many reputed film makers to extract the best out of him. In many films, he performed alongside top Bollywood artistes like Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dixit, Raj Babbar, Smita Patil, Rajesh Khanna, Raaj Kumar, Manisha Koirala, Raveena Tandon, Madhu, Shahrukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif John Abraham, Ajay Devgn, Rajnikant and others.
Nana also proved his versatility in Marathi films with his memorable performances in films like ‘Pak Pak Pakak’, ‘Ole Aale’, ‘Deool’, ‘Dr. Prakash Baba Amte’ , ‘Natasamrat’ and others. Nana was an institution in himself in this acting field. Nana Patekar was conferred with Padmashri award and had also won 3 National and four filmfare awards in different categories, for his performance in films over the years.
His charitable work and commitment to rural welfare through the Naam Foundation, speaks about his concern towards social issues. With his passing away, a big vacuum has been created. Many celebrities have paid homage to his departed soul with their prompt messages on social media. He will be cremated with state honours at his farmhouse in Donaje near Pune.