Nana Patekar says he has no issues with Shah Rukh Khan: ‘He's a fine artist, did his first film with me'

Vivek Agnihotri's recent comments about recent hits reporting inflated box office numbers created a stir among Shah Rukh Khan fans.

Nana Patekar has cleared the air on his rumoured rivalry with Shah Rukh Khan. He said in a new interview with News18 India that Shah Rukh and him are fond of each other as they go a long way back. Nana also added that Shah Rukh is a “very fine artiste.” (Also Read: Nana Patekar says OTT has opened doors for actors with average looks: ‘Mera koi chehra nahi tha’)

Shah Rukh Khan and Nana Patekar in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman

What Nana said

While promoting his upcoming film The Vaccine War, a medical thriller directed by Vivek Agnihotri and also starring Pallavi Joshi, who were seated next to Nana, the actor was asked to comment on Shah Rukh. He said, “Bahut achha kalakaar hai. Iski pehli film mere sath thi, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. Release doosri ho gayi, lekin pehli wali mere sath thi. Maine usko kaha tha uss waqt, poochh lo Shah Rukh se, ‘Tu ek din bahut bada star banega,’ pehli hi film mein kaha tha usko. (He's a very fine artiste. His first film, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, was with me. Another film got a release first, but his first was with me. You can ask him, I told him back then, during his first film, that he'd become a very big star one day)”

When asked if he recently caught up with Shah Rukh ahead of their respective films clashing at the box office, Nana said, “Jab bhi milta hai, mujhse usi tarah se milta hai. Mujhe koi dikkat nahi ussey. Aur wo mera apna hai, mujhse chhota hai, toh mujhe dikkat kyu hogi ussey? (Whenever he meets me, he's very respectful, I have no issues with him. He's my own, he's junior to me, so why would I have a problem with him?)"

Vivek Agnihotri's comment on Jawan

Recently, in another interview, Vivek had claimed that recent box-office hits have been reporting inflated numbers and paying the media to disseminate the factually incorrect info. However, prior to that, Vivek had also claimed that he's a fan of Shah Rukh, and would be in line to watch his new movie Jawan in theatres.

Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992), a romantic dramedy directed by Aziz Mirza, was the first film Shah Rukh signed. However, Raj Kanwar's romantic film Deewana (1992) turned out to be his Bollywood debut movie.