Nana Patekar, the Indian Hindi and Marathi cinema actor whose roles ranged from the menacing crime lord of “Parinda” to the comic gangster of “Welcome,” died Oct. 8, at his residence in Goa. Patekar went into cardiac arrest at home and was declared dead at 5:20 am local time, news agency ANI reported. Shekhar Salkar, chief of the oncology department at Manipal Hospital, told ANI.
Salkar said a medico-legal case had been opened and an autopsy would follow. Born Vishwanath Patekar in Murud-Janjira, in what is now in the western Indian state of Maharashtra’s Raigad district, he studied at Mumbai’s Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art.
His first stage role came under director Vijaya Mehta. He made his film debut in “Gaman” in 1978 and spent the following decade in smaller Marathi and Hindi parts, including a role in Mira Nair’s Oscar-nominated “Salaam Bombay!” (1988). His breakthrough came with “Parinda” (1989), in which he played a crime lord.
The role brought him an Indian National Film Award for best supporting actor and the Filmfare award in the same category. Patekar also directed “Prahaar: The Final Attack” (1991), starring alongside Madhuri Dixit, and went through army training to prepare for his officer role. A second National Award for supporting actor followed for “Agni Sakshi” (1996).
The same year he played the deaf parent of Manisha Koirala in “Khamoshi: The Musical.” He also took Filmfare’s best villain prize twice, for “Angaar” (1992) and “Apaharan” (2005). Only he and Irrfan Khan won Filmfare trophies as lead, supporting player and villain. In the 2000s he played a police encounter specialist in “Ab Tak Chhappan” (2004) and a taxi driver opposite John Abraham in “Taxi No. 9211” (2006).
With “Welcome” (2007), in which he played Uday Shetty, a mob boss with thwarted movie-star ambitions, he found a new audience, and he returned to the part in “Welcome Back” (2015). He played a politician in “Raajneeti” (2010). In Marathi cinema, he won Filmfare Marathi best actor awards for “Dr.
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