Ananth Mahadevan recalls when Nana Patekar ran away from the airport after learning the duration of flight to Australia

Ananth Mahadevan

Nana would often talk about life and death. He would say, ‘I am always prepared for any eventuality. We are here for a short time.' I'm sure he must have faced this bravely.

I had the pleasure to direct him in The Confession of Mary. The film's shoot is complete, about 10 days of post-production work is pending. When he saw the rough cut, he said, ‘I finally feel I am an actor'. That was very humble of him. It lifted my spirit so much. But if I wish he were here to see the final product; he would have been very proud of the film.

We spoke a few weeks ago because the film was going for a screening at Toronto. He called me to ask whether I was going to Toronto. I said, ‘No, but you should go'. He said, ‘No way. I don't like long flights.' He then told me how he had once booked a first-class ticket to Melbourne. He went to the airport, checked in, and ran away from the airport when he learnt the duration of the flight. He blew up Rs 7 lakh. When I told him that had I known then, I would have encouraged him to go, he said, ‘No, don't ever do that. I feel claustrophobic on flights.'

So, he was that kind of a man - on the one hand, [he was scared to get on a plane], and on the other hand, he'd go to Kargil [to motivate the Indian Army]. So, he was a man of extremes. And somewhere in between, we met. I have never seen a more transparent and earthy man.