Born as Vishwanath Patekar on the 1st day of the year in Murud – Janjira, Maharashtra, he perhaps indicated that he was born to lead others. Nana, as he is popularly known, is a very common name in Maharashtrian families, but Vishwanath alias Nana Patekar turned out to be a different person with tremendous creativity hidden within his self. He found an opportunity to explore his talent when he joined Mumbai’s J.J. School of Arts. Those days, for a commercial artist, it was not a well paying job. So, Nana switched over to another creative job of acting. He performed on stage and soon became a popular performer with his spontaneous reactions through body language supported by his rich dialogue delivery.
It did take some time for him to establish himself in this field and then started receiving offers also from films. His negative role as a local politician, who rapes a social activist in the popular Marathi play ‘Purush’ invited the attention of Bollywood personalities and Nana soon landed in Hindi films, demanding meaty roles well suited to his image. Muzaffar Ali, B.R. Chopra and N. Chandra gave him the recognition of an actor, with suitable roles and thereafter there was no stopping for this talented actor. There was a time, when he demanded almost the same amount that was paid to some of the heroes of the films. But, then he deserved it. Nana was very choosy about the roles and gave his 100% in whatever role he played. Whether it was standing opposite bigwigs like Raaj Kumar or Amitabh Bachchan, he always made his own impression on the screen.
In the year 2001 Nana was back on stage and even attempted the Hindi version of ‘Purush’ with Ayesha Jhulka playing the social activist. He also played a different character in a Marathi film ‘Pak Pak Pakak’, which only he could have played. Some of his films like ‘Krantiveer’ ‘Gulaam E Mustafa’, ‘Agnisakshi’, ‘Khamoshi’, ‘Yashwant’, ‘Hum Dono’, ‘Apharan’ and ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’ fully exploited his potential as an actor. Watching him in the recently released films like ‘Welcome’ and ‘Raajniti’ clearly shows how an actor can make his presence felt in every scene of which he is part of. Nana has that ability to pull the crowds at the theatres, with his name in the cast of the film. Now that he will be back to Marathi cinema, is itself a good news for all of us. Everybody is eagerly awaiting for his film ‘Natasamraat’ which has been announced by Mahesh Manjrekar, with Nana playing the title role. At least, it will help to draw big attendance for Marathi cinema.
When you ask Nana for an interview, he would always say, “What interview yaar, asech Gappa maru”. It is very difficult to extract many things from his intelligent mind. But, one thing is very clear that he is very frank and honest to himself. In the past, he was asked about his favourite film and Nana had taken the name of ‘Gulaam-E-Mustafa’. “I liked the script of Mangesh Kulkarni,” he had said. Nana’s memory is simply amazing. He may forget the name of the person, but he would perfectly recollect the place and period of last meeting with that person. There are so many people whom he has helped and his donations to charity are known to all.
Today, he is a contented person, having earned sufficient for his simple living and has received honours with the top awards in the film industry. Instead of living a stress filled life in the city of Mumbai, he has preferred to live a simple life in Pune, growing vegetables at his farm house. It is only for shooting schedules, he makes himself available in city. Staying aloof from crowded places, perhaps, gives him happiness. But, that does not mean that he is cut off from his social responsibility of expressing his opinion in this democratic country. Many a times, he reacts sharply in a humourous way, giving his frank opinion to the media from time to time, about rise in corruption and other social issues. And, that really shows, how much he is socially aware about the ill effects of corruption on the society. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. And, Nana is certainly doing his bit.
Marathi Movie world take this opportunity to wish him a very happy birthday which coincides with the opening of the new year.