Tribute: Nana Patekar was a force of nature

The world knew him as Nana Patekar. But I knew him as Vishwanath Patekar.

My connection with the actor came through GD Tari and his wife Kamala, whom Nana lovingly called Aai and Baba, or mother and father. I lived next door to the Taris in Kalyan in the 1980s. Before they moved to Kalyan, the Taris resided in Sion, where they first met Patekar.

Patekar had had a troubled childhood. The Tari couple gave Patekar something that mattered more than money or opportunity: a sense of belonging. When he enrolled in the JJ School of Art, they supported him throughout the course, alongside their own sons. He never forgot it.

In 1986, after Patekar gained popularity with the film Ankush, he dropped into Birla College in Kalyan. The crowds were huge, so when GD Tari got there, he had no way to get in.

My sister and I were accompanying Tari. When Patekar returned to his car, Tari tapped on the window. Patekar leapt out of the car and hugged Tari, repeatedly saying, baba, tumhi aalat. Father, you are finally here.

After this incident, Patekar began to recognise me too. He would invite me to his home whenever I wanted to interview him. We shared a love of seafood. The...

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