Nana Patekar, the Indian actor and filmmaker whose forceful performances made him a fixture of Hindi and Marathi cinema for nearly five decades, has died at the age of 75.
He died at his home in Goa of a suspected cardiac arrest, according to the Press Trust of India, which cited a doctor at the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Al Jazeera reports that his son, Malhar Patekar, confirmed the death and said his father died of natural causes. Officials said a medico-legal case was registered and a post-mortem examination will be carried out.
Why it matters
Patekar belonged to a generation of Indian performers who moved between commercial cinema, art films and theatre without treating them as separate careers. Over roughly 50 years he built a body of work that ranged from menacing antagonists to comic turns, and he collected three National Film Awards — India's highest film honours — along the way. In 2013 he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of the country's highest civilian honours.
His death drew a public tribute from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wrote on X that Patekar brought "intensity, individuality and unmistakable presence" to his craft. Modi said the actor gave audiences characters that would be remembered for generations and praised the range and creativity he applied to each role, according to Al Jazeera.
A career across Hindi and Marathi cinema
Patekar was born in 1951 in Maharashtra, in western India. He made his film debut in the 1978 Hindi film Gaman, and later won acclaim for Parinda and Krantiveer. Wider international attention followed his appearance in Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay!, which received an Oscar nomination.
Colleagues remembered him as an actor who achieved a great deal with very little. Akshay Kumar, who appeared alongside Patekar in several films, said he was among the rare performers who never needed to overdo a scene to hold an audience. Kumar pointed to Patekar's voice, his intensity and what he described as the honesty of every performance, adding that the actor was entirely his own.
Patekar shared the screen with stars including Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, and worked in both serious and comic registers. Khan paid tribute to him as a mentor and friend, describing him in a post reported by NDTV as an "unbeatable carrom champion." Rajpal Yadav also remembered him, calling him a beautiful human being and saying his work and memories would remain, according to The Times of India.
Beyond acting, Patekar worked as a filmmaker and maintained a connection to theatre. Al Jazeera reports that his death came only days after he appeared at a theatre event in Goa, where he spoke about the importance of keeping the performing arts alive.
An allegation he denied, and a case dismissed
In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, an Indian actress accused Patekar of sexual harassment over an incident during the making of a film in 2008. He denied the allegation. A court in Mumbai dismissed the case last year, Al Jazeera reports.
What to watch
The post-mortem examination will establish the medical cause of death, and the results are expected to be reported in the coming days. Patekar's final film, The Confession of Mary, has yet to be released; its producer told The Indian Express that the actor had sounded in good health in their last conversation.
