A bright star of the Indian film industry has fallen. Bollywood's renowned and talented actor and filmmaker Nana Patekar is no more. He breathed his last at his residence in Goa on Thursday morning due to heart attack. He was 75 years old at the time of his death.
According to family sources, the actor was found unconscious in his flat in Dona Paula, Goa on Thursday morning. He was rushed to Manipal Hospital, where doctors tried to save him by performing CPR for about 45 minutes. However, all efforts failed and the doctors declared him dead at 5:20 am. The news of the actor's death was confirmed to the media by his son Mallar Patekar. The Maharashtra government has announced that the last rites will be performed with state honours in tribute to the legendary actor.
Born on January 1, 1951 as Vishwanath Patekar in Murudesh, Maharashtra, this talented artist, who later won a place in the hearts of millions of fans as 'Nana Patekar', completed his education from Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Arts in Mumbai and made his Bollywood debut in 1978 with the film 'Goman'. For more than four decades, he has left a unique signature of his acting skills in Hindi and Marathi films.
His performances in films like 'Parinda', 'Krantivir', 'Agnisakshi', 'Khamoshi: The Musical', 'Apaharan', 'Raajneeti', 'Welcome' and the Marathi classic 'Natsamrat' will be remembered forever.
He was successful not only as an actor but also as a film director. The military genre film 'Prahar: The Final Attack', in which he directed and starred, was widely acclaimed.
He was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of the Government of India, in 2013 for his outstanding contribution to cinema. He has also won three National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards during his career.
This man, who lived a very simple life away from the limelight, founded the 'Naam Foundation' in 2015 to stand by the drought-stricken farmers of Maharashtra . He used to donate a large part of his earned money to serve humanity.
His sudden demise has cast a shadow of deep sorrow over Bollywood and the entire Indian cultural community. Stars of the film industry have expressed their deep respect and condolences to him on social media. Nana Patekar will forever be remembered in the history of Indian cinema as a master of delivering dialogues and portraying intense social anger on screen.
