Nana Patekar, actor of Hindi and Marathi cinema, dies at 75 in Goa; leaders, colleagues pay tribute

Nana Patekar, one of the most admired actors of Hindi and Marathi cinema, died on Thursday, October 8, 2026. He was 75. Reports say he suffered a severe heart attack at his home in Dona Paula, Goa. He was found unconscious there and rushed to hospital, but doctors could not revive him. One account puts the time he was declared dead at about 5.20 am. The film industry and theatre world have been left stunned, and tributes have been coming in from politicians, co-stars and admirers, including many on social media.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis described Patekar as a close friend. "The sudden and untimely passing of senior actor and my close friend Nana Patekar is a great shock. My heart is heavy," he said. He added that Patekar gave Marathi and Hindi cinema an era and that audiences especially loved his image as a patriot. Eknath Shinde said: "The pride of Maharashtra and the Marathi manoos has gone today." He called Patekar a sensitive, powerful actor and a true 'Natsamrat', and said the loss was a huge blow to the film industry, to Maharashtra and to him personally.

Sharad Pawar called the news extremely painful and said an extraordinary, sensitive and impactful chapter of the Indian film industry had ended. He recalled the many shades of Patekar's acting in Parinda, Krantiveer, Agni Sakshi, Ab Tak Chhappan, Welcome and Natsamrat. Actor Riteish Deshmukh wrote: "Today words have frozen, it feels as if lightning has struck my heart." He said he was fortunate to share the screen with Patekar in Bluffmaster and Housefull 5, but would always regret never having worked with him in a Marathi film. Akshay Kumar, who acted with him in Welcome and Housefull 5, said: "I am deeply saddened by the news of Nanaji's passing." He spoke of Patekar's voice, intensity and honesty on screen.

In Chandrapur, MP Pratibha Dhanorkar and MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar offered tributes. Both recalled his National Awards, his Padma Shri and his farmer-welfare work through the Naam Foundation. Dhanorkar said: "Words fall short today and the heart is numb." She praised his water conservation work in drought-hit Maharashtra. Mungantiwar said: "His acting was not merely the delivery of dialogue; it was an eruption of emotion and a mirror of reality." He added that the curtain had fallen on an immortal chapter of Marathi and Hindi cinema.

Reports differ on his birth name. Some give it as Vishwajeet Dinkarrao Patekar, others as Vishwanath Patekar, and one as Vishwanath Gajanan Patekar. He was born on January 1, 1951, in Murud-Janjira, in what is now Raigad district of Maharashtra. His father, Gajanan Patekar, was a businessman who died when Nana was 28. His mother, Nirmala, was a homemaker; he was deeply attached to her, and she died on January 29, 2019, aged 99.

His early life was hard. Because of poverty he began working at 13, and he has said that in those days he ate one meal a day and earned only Rs 35 a month. He painted film posters in his early years. He grew up in Mumbai and finished school at Samarth Vidyalaya in Dadar West. He then studied at the Bandra School of Arts, now the L.S. Raheja School of Art, and later took a diploma in commercial arts at the Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, his highest formal qualification. He worked as a commercial artist and visualiser before turning to theatre and then films.

He made his film debut in 1978 with Gaman, in a negative role. Ankush (1986) became a milestone, and he went on to Parinda (1989), Prahaar (1991), Krantiveer (1994), Yashwant (1997), Tiranga, Khamoshi, Agni Sakshi, Ab Tak Chhappan (2004), Welcome (2007), Raajneeti (2010) and Natsamrat. His earlier credits include Aaj Ki Awaz, Pratighaat, Andha Yudh, which brought his first Filmfare nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Mohre, Trishagni, Aawam and Sagar Sangam. He played Nathuram Godse in the British television series 'Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy', and appeared in Maficha Sakshidar, Shagird, Taxi No. 9211, Ek and Aapla Manus. He worked in Marathi, Hindi, Tamil and Kannada films, directed Prahaar and was also a writer and producer. In recent years he was seen in Housefull 5. One of his lines from Yashwant, in which he played a police officer, was: "Business, Kishan. In business nobody is anybody's brother." From another film he is remembered for: "Don't ask for my life, it has no value in the market."

Most accounts say he won three National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards, among them for Parinda, Krantiveer and Agni Sakshi. The Government of India honoured him in 2013. Most filings say it was the Padma Shri; one says Padma Bhushan.

His bond with the Army ran deep. He joined the Territorial Army in 1990, and one account says he was commissioned as a captain. He retired in 2013 as a lieutenant colonel. To prepare for Prahaar he trained with the Maratha Light Infantry in Belagavi, and one account says the training lasted three years and included work with General V. K. Singh. When the Kargil war broke out in 1999 he stepped away from acting and served with the forces. Accounts of his time there differ. One says he spent about 60 days with soldiers. Another says that in August 1999 he spent more than two weeks near the Line of Control, was part of a quick response team and worked a few days at a base hospital, and that his weight fell from 76 kg to 56 kg. He told an interview that he had asked then Defence Minister George Fernandes for permission to join the Army and was first told a civilian could not be recruited directly. He explained his commando training and marksmanship to the minister, and said he had won a bronze medal in rifle shooting at the national level. He founded the Naam Foundation to help drought-hit farmers of Maharashtra and the families of soldiers.

He was known for plain living. He favoured simple, traditional clothes such as a white cotton kurta and pyjama or a dhoti, with a white gamchha on his shoulder, and avoided designer wear. He spent much of his time at his farmhouse in Khadakwasla near Pune, where he farmed, planted trees and read in the evenings.

His friendship with actor Ashok Saraf is being recalled. Both began in theatre, and Saraf has said Patekar stood by him in lean days. During a show of the Marathi play 'Hamidabaichi Kothi', a technical fault forced the performance to be cancelled and an angry audience began attacking the artistes. Saraf has said Patekar kept calm and got him out in the dark by autorickshaw to safety, and Saraf thanked him for it.

Patekar also had ties across politics. He once said: "Sharad Pawar was once my hero. But politics has changed now." At a public event he praised Shinde: "There are very few people in the state's politics against whom there is no blemish, and Eknath Shinde is one of them. He held the Chief Minister's post, yet no one can point a finger at him." He spoke of his closeness to Balasaheb Thackeray and said he felt bad when the Shiv Sena split. He once advised that Raj and Uddhav should come together for the good of the Marathi people.

His wife is Neelkanti Patekar, a Marathi actress who began as a child artist in 1966, won a National Award, worked in a bank and as a writer, and returned to films in Chhaava. They met in theatre and married in 1978, and had lived apart by choice for about 35 years without divorcing. Patekar had said in a recent interview that their temperaments and thinking differ greatly, and that she contributed much to his journey as an actor. They had two sons. Durvasa died in early childhood, and Malhar, an assistant director on The Attacks of 26/11, runs Nanasaheb Production House. Malhar survives him along with his wife.

His career was also marked by a controversy. Actress Tanushree Dutta alleged that he sexually harassed her on the sets of Horn 'Ok' Pleassss in 2008. She said she complained to the Cine and TV Artists Association in March 2008, repeated the allegation in 2013, and spoke again in 2018, helping push the Me Too movement in Bollywood. An FIR was registered on October 1, 2018, at Oshiwara police station. In June 2019 the police filed a B-Summary report suggesting the complaint could have been malicious or motivated by vengeance, which brought relief to Patekar at the level of the police investigation. Dutta was then expected to approach a court to have the case reopened.