Veteran actor Nana Patekar was cremated with full state honours at his farmhouse on the outskirts of Pune at around 11.30 pm on Thursday. His son Malhar Patekar performed the last rites in the presence of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, other dignitaries and thousands of fans.
After the funeral, Malhar spoke to reporters and addressed the question many fans had been asking: why had the last rites happened so close to midnight?
The timing, explained
Nana Patekar died in Goa on Thursday morning after a severe cardiac arrest. He had called a friend in the early hours after feeling uneasy and was taken to Manipal Hospital, where doctors tried to revive him for around 45 minutes, Dr Shekhar Salkar told ANI.
His body then had to be brought from Goa to the family farmhouse near Pune, a journey Malhar said took longer than the family expected. By the time the mortal remains arrived, he said, “a significant amount of time had already passed” since the morning tragedy, so the family decided to proceed the same night rather than wait until the next day.
More than a farewell
Malhar also spoke about what the family plans to protect. He said a person like his father becomes immortal “through their work,” and that the social initiatives run through the Naam Foundation would be carried forward. Work in the water sector was already underway, he said, and large-scale education and health initiatives had begun in Kashmir.
He shared the phrase his father repeated often:
“Let’s get together in the name of humanity.”
Key moments from the last rites
- Nana Patekar died Thursday morning in Goa after a cardiac arrest; doctors tried to revive him for about 45 minutes.
- His body was brought to the Pune farmhouse, and Malhar performed the last rites at around 11.30 pm.
- The funeral was held with full state honours, with CM Devendra Fadnavis and thousands of fans present.
For celebrity-watchers, the late-night farewell was a reminder that final rites often follow logistics as much as tradition. By Thursday night in Pune, the family had already travelled through a long day of loss, and the send-off could not wait.
Source: Hindustan Times
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