A brief look at his filmography reveals the secret ingredient of veteran actor Nana Patekar’s greatness and legacy: his consistency. Since his breakout role in Salaam Bombay (1988), Nana, who passed away on Thursday, continued to make his presence felt with strong and powerful roles year after year, bringing a rarely channelled intensity to Hindi cinema. He paved the way for actors who didn’t fit conventional ideas of stardom by becoming a bankable superstar. While many of his roles became iconic, some still lack the recognition they deserve.
Here’s a look back at the wonderful dichotomy in Nana Patekar's filmography, which made him one of the most celebrated and underrated actors of Indian cinema.
Parinda (1989)
When you think of the greatest Hindi film antagonists of all time, you can't ignore Anna, the cold-stared crime overlord in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda — this is where Nana Patekar redefined villainy with his eerie blend of calculated calm and unbridled terror. Some moments from the film—be it Anna’s outburst upon seeing fire or the climactic sequence—are permanently etched in every cinephile’s memory, and it’s hard to imagine anyone but Nana pulling it off.
Krantiveer (1994)
In 1994, India stood on the cusp of economic revolution, even as it continued to struggle with age-old issues like class divide and communal tension. Pratap, Nana Patekar’s acerbic, nihilistic protagonist, hit Hindi film-goers like a jolt, waking them from their slumber—and Nana created an uproar with his fiery monologues, mercurial body language, and trademark laughter that barely hides his abundant angst and cynicism. Nana’s climactic monologue about a depressingly complacent and defeated nation continues to be shared on social media to this date.
Khamoshi the Musical (1996)
Shortly after a wordy film like Krantiveer, and defying all market and industry expectations, Nana Patekar played Joseph, a poor deaf-and-mute man struggling to support his family in Khamoshi. Through his sheer command over silences and minute expressions, Nana created a poignant image of an old man who grieves, hustles, copes and lives through his daughter’s voice. In a scene where Joseph weeps over the death of his 7-year-old son, Nana’s silent tears spoke volumes.
Ab Tak Chhappan (2004)
In Shimit Amin’s directorial debut, Nana Patekar played Sadhu Agashe, an encounter specialist based on a real-life figure. Embodying a man who walks a thin line between duty and his idea of deliverance, Nana brought the role the right blend of intensity and nonchalance. A moment where Sadhu declares his wife dead with a clinical detachment — in an atmosphere brimming with hysteria and terror — is one for the books. In that one blank stare, he reached the centre of his character for whom death is an everyday reality.
Natsamrat (2016)
For someone who started in theatre and, even at the height of cinematic stardom, always kept the stage close to his heart, Natsamrat felt like the circle of life for Nana. As Appa, who is venerated for his performance on stage, Nana wonderfully embodies an actor who gives it all for his art, and looks back at the life he forgot to live with his family and friends. Who better than Nana to bring to life the grief, happiness, resentment, pain, and the bittersweet feeling of being a misunderstood actor.
Ankush (1986)
N Chandra’s film was a gritty awakening about India's angry, unemployed youth struggling to hold onto hope for their future, and Nana Patekar's performance as a disillusioned young man denied a fair chance at redemption gave the film its central power. In a scene where his character confronts a teacher who lets other students cheat in their exams, Nana displayed a searing rage that became a recurring element of his filmography for the next two decades.
Prahaar: The Final Attack (1991)
At the peak of newly-found fame, Nana Patekar headlined and directed Prahaar, which offered a gritty and honest look into the life of a soldier on and beyond the battlefield. At its inner core, the film is also about grief, idealism, and a society dealing with moral corruption. As Major Chavan, Nana brilliantly embodied the narrative's simmering angst.
Thodasa Roomani Ho Jayen (1990)
Directed by Amol Palekar, the quaint musical featured Nana Patekar as a charming trickster who knocks on the door of a dysfunctional family, promising to bring rain to their village but ends up delivering much more. Far from his angsty image, Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jayen offered a delightful detour for both the audience and Nana as a performer, capturing his romantic, light-hearted side as he spouted life-affirming poetry with disarming charm and a cascade in his voice, winning hearts all around.
Wajood (1998)
In another image-defying role, and reuniting with N Chandra after 12 years, Nana Patekar played Malhar, a stage actor, a gentle yet obsessive romantic who, despite his poetry, struggles between imagination and reality, and whose devotion to his muse Apoorva (Madhuri Dixit) reaches biblical proportions and culminates in self-destruction. Malhar’s final face-off with a perturbed Apoorva, as she sits facing him on a theatre stage, is one of the most memorable scenes of Nana Patekar’s career.
10. Hu Tu Tu (1999)
In a brief but haunting appearance, Nana Patekar played Bhau in Gulzar’s angsty film about a decaying political landscape—an activist who also doubles as the musical sutradhar and moral backbone of the film. His jovial smiles in the ‘Ghapla Hai' song sequence, even as Bhau takes biting digs at his leaders, captured the disillusionment and anguish of a tired generation that isn’t afraid of battling the system, whether through satire or social upheaval.
Special mentions: Taxi No 9 2 11, Ghulam-e-Mustafa, Agni Sakshi, Angaar, Raju Ban Gentleman, Welcome
(With inputs from Kartik Bhardwaj)