09102026-LSTC-01.qxd 10/8/2026 9:55 PM Page 1 c m y b TRIBUNE ROHIT REMEMBERS NANA Actor Rohit Shetty penned a heartfelt note to pay tributes to Nana Patekar. The director recalled Nana’s generosity in not charging money for his cameo in the film Golmaal Again and told him to donate the money to an orphanage. Life Cinema fest Actor Aamir Khan attended the inauguration of annual film and media festival Celebrate Cinema 2026 at filmmaker Subhash Ghai’s film institute Whistling Woods, Mumbai. CHANDIGARH | FRIDAY | 9 OCTOBER 2026 From Anna Seth, Pratap Narayan Tilak to Uday Shetty, Nana Patekar played them all and made every one unforgettable W HAT makes Nana Patekar’s filmography particularly compelling is the sheer distance between many of his characters. Anna Seth and Uday Shetty could hardly belong to the same actor, yet Patekar makes both convincing. The volatile Pratap Tilak is worlds apart from the restrained Joseph Braganza, while Ganpatrao Belwalkar demands an entirely different emotional vocabulary. Across these performances, one quality remains constant: Patekar’s ability to make audiences feel the character rather than simply watch him. His voice, pauses, expressions and physical presence have become part of his acting language. But perhaps his greatest strength has been his refusal to settle into a single image. He could be frightening without shouting, funny without forcing a joke, and vulnerable without becoming sentimental. That versatility is what has allowed Nana Patekar to remain distinctive across generations — an actor whose most memorable characters are not merely remembered for what they said, but for the feeling they left behind. His ten most defining roles tell the story of a man who never played it safe: The actor, the characters, the legacy “Bhagwan ka diya hua sab kuch hai. Daulat hai. Shohrat hai. Izzat hai. Bas ek nek aur shareef ladka chahiye tha.” — Welcome (2007) “Kutte ki tarah jeene ki aadat padhi hai sabko.” — Krantiveer (1994) “Control Uday, control.” — Welcome (2007) “Yeh Musalman ka khoon, yeh Hindu ka khoon... bata is mein Musalman ka kaunsa, Hindu ka kaunsa, bata!” — Krantiveer (1994) “Aa gaye meri maut ka tamasha dekhne?” — Krantiveer (1994) “Apna toh usool hai, pehle laat, phir baat, uske baad mulaqat.” — Tirangaa (1993) “Hum sab system ka hissa hain.” —Ab Tak Chhappan (2004) “Upar waala bhi upar se dekhta hoga toh usse sharam aati hogi... neeche dekha toh sab keede ban gaye... keede!” —Krantiveer (1994) “Pandrah sau ki naukri karne waala, ek din tujhe dedh sau ka kafan pehnayega.” — Tirangaa (1993) “Giro giro, lekin giro toh us jharne ki tarah... joh parbat ki oonchai se girke bhi apni sundarta khone nahi deta.” — Yeshwant (1997) “Yeh dukh naam ki bimari ka ilaaj kisi doctor ke paas bhi nahi... iska ilaaj khud dhoondna padta hai.” — Parinda (1989) searing role in Mira Nair’s Oscar-nominated film that marked the early arrival of an actor unlike any other. Parinda, Patekar created one of Hindi cinema’s most chilling gangsters. A fire-phobic underworld don whose menace came not from brute force but from psychological unpredictability. The role earned him his first National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. Pratap Narayan Tilak, Krantiveer (1994): An angry, alcoholic drifter who finds a cause worth fighting for. Patekar combined fury and vulnerability in a performance that won him the National Film Award for Best Actor. Vishwanath, Agni Sakshi (1996): Patekar explored a darker and more psychologically disturbing space. He played a deeply obsessive, psychologically disturbed husband in a thriller that earned him his third National Film Award. Joseph Braganza, Khamoshi: Not all of Patekar’s memorable performances have relied on aggression. In Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Khamoshi: The Musical, he played Joseph Braganza, the father of a deaf-mute daughter. The performance revealed a considerably softer side of the actor. His performance earned him a Filmfare Best Actor nomination. Sadhu Agashe, Ab Tak Chhappan (2004): Uday Shetty, Welcome (2007): Then came In Ab Tak Chhappan, Patekar returned to the world of crime and policing as Inspector Sadhu Agashe, a celebrated Mumbai’s encounter specialist.The film drew from the life of real officer Daya Nayak. The 2004 crime drama became one of Patekar’s most recognised performances. Uday Shetty, the role that introduced Patekar’s comic side to an entirely new generation. A gangster whose seriousness became the joke. His chemistry with Anil Kapoor who played Majnu bhai, created one of Hindi cinema’s most beloved comic pairings. Rakesh Maria, The Attacks of 26/11 (2013): Tabrez Alam, Apaharan (2005): A morally ambiguous political figure in Prakash Jha’s crime drama. Won him the Filmfare Award for Best Villain. CELEBS MOURN NANA PATEKAR The sudden death of veteran actor Nana Patekar has left the film industry in shock, with those who worked closely with him struggling to come to terms with the loss. HE LOVED ME, AND I LOVED HIM BACK The Shere Khan voice 90s kids never forgot Remember the moment The Jungle Book would begin on Doordarshan and the room would suddenly go quiet? For several 90s kids, Mowgli’s jungle was full of characters they loved: Baloo, Bagheera and the wolves who protected him. But there was one character who could instantly make things a little more frightening: Shere Khan. In the Hindi version, it was Nana Patekar’s voice that gave the tiger that edge. For kids watching The Jungle Book in the 1990s, Patekar’s Shere Khan was genuinely intimidating. The actor never appeared on screen. He did not need to. His job was simply to give a voice to one of the most feared characters in Mowgli’s world. Yet the performance was so distinctive that Shere Khan became inseparable from that deep, unmistakable voice. For young viewers, Shere Khan was not just another animated character. He was the villain they knew they had to be wary of. — ANI Nana Patekar’s dialogues are as unforgettable as his performances—raw, intense and often deeply reflective. Whether delivering fiery monologues or quiet observations on life, his words carry the same emotional force, sharp wit and conviction that have made his most iconic roles so enduring. “Ek machhar saala aadmi ko hijda bana deta hai.” —Yeshwant (1997) Baba, Salaam Bombay! (1988): A small but Anna Seth, Parinda (1989): As Anna Seth in DIALOGUES WE REMEMBER When I first met him, out of awe and awkwardness I fiddled with my hair. He slapped my hand away and said ‘hero ki tarah baal mat bana...tu actor hai’! He didn’t flatter you. He didn’t tell you what you wanted to hear. He told you what you needed to hear. That was Nana. Straightforward. Rough, honest and had the most beautiful smile He always had a strange way of showing affection. He would shout at you first, and then somewhere between the third or fourth insult, you realised you were being hugged. He loved me and I loved him back. He was a mentor, a teacher, a critic and a friend who beat me and everyone else around him in carrom game after game and relished his victories... The Heavens will be blessed to have you... a masterful actor and an unbeatable carrom champion... – SHAH RUKH KHAN RARE FRIENDSHIP “We became friends when I started visiting the set of Prahaar to meet him; our bond grew very close. Later, after he watched Laapataa Ladies, our closeness deepened through phone conversations… When I went to Goa, I visited the very house where he had suffered a cardiac arrest. He cooked a meal and served it to me with his own hands. One rarely meets people like that…” — RAVI KISHAN HE VOLUNTEERED FOR KARGIL WAR “Heartbreaking news of Nana Patekar Ji’s passing. The man was a force of nature, and he uplifted the lives of those around him. Beyond the screen, his work helping farmers in Maharashtra and his volunteer service during the Kargil War spoke volumes about his deep sense of duty. My deepest condolences to his family and his legions of fans.”— KAMAL HAASAN FEARLESS, FULL OF LIFE... “Still can’t believe Nana is not among us. We never worked together, but we always shared a very special bond that went back many years. Full of life, he always did what he wanted to do. That’s how I’ll always remember him. Will miss you, Nana.” — SUNNY DEOL ONE OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS “I am deeply saddened because he was one of my closest friends… He used to help so many people… People used to say he had a quick temper or acted out, but anger only arises when things aren’t organised…Our friendship went beyond movies; we got along very well regardless of that.” — MITHUN CHAKRABORTY ANOTHER ANGRY YOUNG MAN “I have a lot of respect for him because he is a man who worked on his own conditions. The kind of cinema he wanted to do, the kind of roles he wanted to do. And in his time, I would say that during Mr Bachchan’s era, he created another angry young man.” — RAKESH BEDI HE DID A FILM FOR JUST ~21,000 “I am saddened by Nana Patekar’s sudden and untimely death… When he was at the peak of his career and was charging ~65-70 lakh, he trusted me after reading the script when I directed the film Abhay. You will be surprised to know that he did that film for just ~21,000.” — ANNU KAPOOR c m y b A portrayal of the real police officer Rakesh Maria against the backdrop of the 2008 terror attacks. The 2013 film dealt with one of the darkest episodes in Mumbai’s recent history, and Patekar approached the role with the gravity the subject demanded. Ganpatrao Belwalkar, Natsamrat (2016): With Natsamrat, Patekar returned to Marathi cinema and to a character that perhaps comes closest to reflecting the relationship between an actor and his art. The Marathi drama showed a quieter, devastating range rarely seen from him. Nana Patekar’s last film, O Romeo, released earlier this year. The actor, who died in the wee hours of Thursday, is survived by his son Malhar Patekar.