MUMBAI, India, Oct 8: Prominent Indian actor Nana Patekar passed away early today after suffering a cardiac arrest at his residence in Indian city of Goa. He was 75.
His family said a medical team was called to his residence after the actor complained of intense chest pain, but he fell unconscious before the arival of the medical team, following which he was rushed to a hospital in Goa early Thursday, where he was pronounced dead.
Vishwanath Patekar, widely known as Nana Patekar, was an Indian actor and filmmaker, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in Indian Cinema, Patekar was recipient of the three National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, two Maharashtra State Film Awards and Filmfare Awards Marathi for his acting performances.
He was bestowed with the Padma Shri award in 2013 for his contribution to cinema and arts industry. After making his acting debut in Bollywood with the 1978 drama Gaman, Patekar acted in a few Marathi films and some Bollywood films. After starring in the Academy Award-nominated Salaam Bombay in 1988, he won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the crime drama Parinda (1989).
He then starred in his directorial debut, Prahaar: The Final Attack (1991). Patekar starred in and received critical acclaim for his performance in several commercially successful films of the 1990s, including Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992); Angaar (1992), for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Villain; Tirangaa (1993) and Krantiveer (1994), for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor and the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. Further acclaim came his way for Agni Sakshi (1996), for which he won his second National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor; and Khamoshi: The Musical (1996).
During the early 2000s, he received praise for his performances in Shakti: The Power (2002), Ab Tak Chhappan (2004) and Apaharan (2005); the latter of which earned him his second Filmfare Award for Best Villain, and Taxi No. 9211 (2006). Patekar received widespread praise for playing a good-hearted gangster Uday Shetty in the comedy Welcome (2007) and its sequel Welcome Back (2015), and a politician in the political thriller Raajneeti (2010). In 2016, he starred in the critically and commercially successful Marathi film Natsamrat, in which he portrayed a retired stage actor. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film.
Patekar married Neelkanti in 1978,and together they had two sons: Durvasa and Malhar. Durvasa died at 2 years old due to illness. Nana’s father died of a heart attack when Nana was 28; he had two brothers named Ashok and Dilip Patekar.
