Veteran actor Nana Patekar died in the early hours of Thursday after suffering a cardiac arrest at his Goa residence.
Chief of the Department of Oncology at Manipal Hospital, the actor was found unconscious at his apartment and was rushed to a private medical facility, according to Dr Shekhar Salkar.
Doctors attempted to revive him for around 45 minutes, but the actor could not be saved. He was declared dead at approximately 5:10 am. The veteran actor, who died at 75, had attended the Samraat Club International installation ceremony in Dona Paula on October 4.
A medico-legal case has been registered and authorities are expected to conduct a post-mortem examination. Just days before his death, Nana Patekar spoke publicly in Goa about life, mortality and whether he was doing enough with the time he had. Dressed in a white kurta and scarf, he addressed the gathering and spoke about former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, whom he remembered as a close friend. His comments about how little time any person is guaranteed now carry a different weight following his death. During your father’s time, Manohar Parrikar was my friend. I was proud to call him my friend. He was younger than me, but his stature was such that you had to look up to him. It is unfortunate, but we were lucky that such a person was born among us and that he chose to do what he did. He had taken up a mission. There are so many people who dedicate themselves to a cause. How great is it that, within such a short life, someone can accomplish so much? He would even take a gas cylinder and go there, and then go back to that bridge and do what had to be done. You need to have that kind of passion and determination. “I have to ask myself whether I have tried. If my world is limited to my children, my wife and my home, then what is my purpose? I have to give something back here, don’t I? I like some of Narendra Modi’s ideas and I don’t like some of them. We should learn to say that. He does not always get everything wrong. What is a protest ultimately? It is when something does not feel right to us, when something is not happening the way it should. Even a small child cries when it is hungry. That is its way of protesting. The definition of protest should change with age, shouldn’t it? If I don’t like something, I must speak about it. But there is a way of speaking. If I have something to say about you, I will never use filthy, abusive or offensive words against anyone. Don’t speak in public with anger and abuse. Among friends, we may fight, grab each other and say things to one another, but that should remain between us. When we speak publicly, there has to be some basic decency.
Dr Salkar said the actor remained in asystole, meaning there was no electrical activity in the heart, throughout the resuscitation efforts. Speaking at the event, he said, “Pramod Sawant is the Chief Minister of Goa. That has to be maintained, otherwise there is no meaning to it,” he said.
A career that spanned five decades
His comic performances in films such as Welcome and the Housefull franchise introduced him to another generation of mainstream audiences. At the same time, the actor proved that his range extended well beyond serious drama. His voice, expressions and timing became instantly recognisable. He continued to work in films in his later years. He also appeared as a police officer in Vishal Bhardwaj’s O’ Romeo , starring Shahid Kapoor and Triptii Dimri, and had a cameo in Subedar alongside Anil Kapoor and Radhika Madan.
Born in 1951, Nana built a reputation as one of Indian cinema’s most intense and unpredictable performers. He began his acting career with the 1978 Marathi film Gaman and went on to work across both Marathi and Hindi cinema. The actor was part of Housefull 5, which featured Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh.
