Yeshwant director Anil Mattoo recollects how Nana Patekar recorded the song Ek Machhar in one take

Anil Mattoo and Nana Patekar

Off screen, my close buddy, more like an elder brother, Nana had a fitness fetish, and he loved cooking his own food. A versatile actor par excellence, Nana [real name Vishwanath Patekar], who played a suspended yet rebel police officer in my crime-action drama movie Yeshwant [1997], opposite actor Madhoo, was always energy and enthusiasm personified. Beyond being a fabulous, intense, romantic, and comic actor, Nana had a terrific sense of music. He often attended live classical music concerts.

Even after 30 years, Nana's voice still resonates and reigns as a timeless audio-visual banger. [I remember] Nana had a one-line sarcastic dialogue [in Yeshwant], which I felt had the potential to click as a filmy track - Ek Machhar Saala Aadmi Ko Hijra Bana Deta Hai - picturised inside a prison cell. And who better than Nana could do justice [to it] in his signature gravelly, crackling-bass, and mesmerising voice? We brought lyricist Sameer [Anjaan] and composer duo Anand-Milind to develop that jibe-line into a three-stanza, rap-style song. Nana recorded the song in one perfect take.

We were [always] in touch and would often meet during Ganeshotsav. I wished him on his birthday every year, which coincided with New Year's. We will miss him a lot - the ‘one and only Nana Patekar'.