Nana Patekar, the actor who spent close to five decades proving that a Bollywood leading man does not need a poster-boy face, has died at 75. The news came from his home in Goa, six months after his final release, Vishal Bhardwaj’s O’Romeo.
For an audience that watches stars closely, Patekar was the rare figure who became a star precisely by refusing the category. Born Vishwanath Patekar in 1951, he arrived without a grand launch, making his debut in the Marathi film Mimagaman in 1978. Early Hindi notices followed with Aaj Ki Awaz in 1984, but it was Ankush in 1986 that gave him the fast-talking, piercing template fans would recognise for decades.
From supporting actor to leading man
Patekar’s early acclaim often came while he stood next to more conventionally “saleable” names. Parinda earned him the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Salaam Bombay brought international visibility. But the supporting tag lingered, so he changed the equation himself.
He turned director with Prahaar in 1991, casting himself in the lead alongside Madhuri Dixit. The film’s moderate box office later grew into a cable favourite. Then Tiranga and Krantiveer turned him into a box office draw. Krantiveer gave him a National Award for Best Actor and one of his earliest viral scenes, proof that he could open a film without looking or acting like the standard hero.
The roles that built the Nana rulebook
- Ankush: the restless energy that created his screen signature.
- Parinda: the supporting role that won him his first National Award.
- Krantiveer: the vigilante drama that made him a leading man.
- Welcome: the comic turn as Uday Shetty that showed his range.
- O’Romeo: his final role, a maverick police officer released in 2026.
Comedy was always part of his toolkit, but Welcome in 2007 made it impossible to reduce him to “serious actor”. His Uday Shetty became an icon, and roles in Bluffmaster, Phir Hera Pheri and others had already hinted at the timing behind the intensity.
A complicated final act
Patekar’s career also carried public controversy. In 2008, Tanushree Dutta accused him of sexual harassment on the set of Horn ‘Ok’ Pleassss. She repeated the allegation in 2013 and 2018, and the latter became one of the early sparks of India’s #MeToo conversation. Patekar denied the allegations. In 2019, a B-Summary report by Oshiwara police said the complaint could be “malicious” and “out of revenge”, and he was cleared of the charges. Co-star Madhoo separately recalled a scene in which she said he slapped her without warning, saying professional boundaries were crossed.
None of this pushed him out of work. Rajneeti, Natsamrat and Ab Tak Chhappan 2 kept him visible through the 2010s. By the time O’Romeo released, he was again playing the unpredictable figure he had always made credible.
Why his exit matters now
Patekar’s real legacy is the route he opened for actors who did not fit the conventional hero mould. His success made room for talent to be the draw, not the packaging. That is why his death is being read as the closing of an era rather than just the loss of one performer. He was 75, and his body of work ends where it began: with an actor refusing to be anyone but himself.
Source: Hindustan Times
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