Nana Patekar dropped plan to buy Rs 1.5 crore car, gave money to farmer families, says writer

Bollywood actor Nana Patekar is known not only for his powerful acting but also for his work for society. Several accounts of his help to farmers and their families have surfaced before. Writer Ranbir Pushp has now narrated one more such episode from the actor's life. According to him, Patekar abandoned his plan to buy a luxury car worth about Rs 1.5 crore after seeing the condition of farmer families.

Pushp recounted the episode on Siddharth Kannan's podcast. He said Patekar was once watching on television the plight of families left shattered after farmer suicides, and the reports affected him deeply. At the time, Patekar was preparing to buy a car costing about Rs 1.5 crore. After seeing the suffering of the farmer families, he decided against buying it. Pushp said Patekar resolved that the money would go towards helping needy farmer families.

As Pushp remembers it, Patekar called an artist friend and asked him to write cheques of Rs 15,000 per family for the farmer families. The episode suggests the help was not driven by any wish for recognition but by a desire to support families in need.

Patekar's involvement with farmers' concerns deepened afterwards. Patekar and actor Makarand Anaspure founded the Naam Foundation in 2015. The organisation has worked to help farmers and drought-hit families in Maharashtra. Earlier, Patekar had given cheques of Rs 15,000 each to 62 farmer families in Vidarbha and 113 in Marathwada, as recorded.

Patekar's blunt speech and short temper are often discussed. The episode narrated by Pushp, however, shows a different, sensitive side of him. The incident, in which he chose to help needy farmer families instead of buying an expensive car, is being talked about again. His work for farmers has not been limited to one occasion. Help for farmers and village families continues through the Naam Foundation, which is why his decision is still remembered.

In the same conversation, Pushp narrated another anecdote about Patekar. He said Patekar once saw someone throw a plastic bottle out of a car. Patekar stopped his own car and picked up the bottle. He then had the man's car stopped, asked him to roll down the window and said, "Who will keep India clean? Gandhiji has gone, but you are still on this earth. So as a citizen, is it not your responsibility to keep the country clean? Should I throw bottles at your car?"