09 October,2026 07:22 AM IST | Mumbai | Upala KBR
Nana Patekar. Pic/mid-day archives
I directed him in Natsamrat [2016]. When I told Nana, âLet's do this', he said yes. It was just a verbal commitment. Nana was like a possessed man working on the film; he was like a 60-year-old child who got a toy.
On the first day of the shoot, Nana came, sat on the monitor to see the scene. Then by mistake, some wire got loose, and the next scene's dialogue did not get recorded, and Nana started firing the sound recordist. On the second day, I told Nana, âWe need to hire a new sound recordist and a cameraman'. When he asked why, I said, âThey are scared of you as you [yell at] them. They get nervous.' He just looked at me quietly, went to those two guys, and hugged them. From that day on, I did not have a single problem. He was like that - always expressing immediately what he felt, and there was no malice in it.
He was a perfectionist in his work. I worked with two of the greatest actors in Marathi cinema and theatre, Vikram Gokhale and Nana Patekar.
After Natsamrat was complete, he just hugged me and said, âWe have made a great film'. I miss him so much. I'll never be able to work with him.
Every time he signed a film, he used to call me. The last thing he told me was that he was doing a Raju [Rajkumar] Hirani film. I feel so sad that the movie [will] never [get] made. Both of them would have been magic together.
I came to London recently, and on Wednesday night, I was scrolling through Instagram and saw him reviewing a book he had read. I wondered why he was looking pale. I told my wife, âI will call him first thing tomorrow morning'. I went to sleep with that thought, and at 3 am [London time], I got a call that he is no more. That video felt like him saying goodbye to me before he went.
As told to Upala KBR
