Mahesh Manjrekar who directed the landmark 2016 Marathi drama film Natsamrat, and had known Nana Patekar since their theatre days tells us, “This is the biggest loss for me after my mother and father. We have lost Vikram Ghokhale and now Nana, the pillars of the Marathi film industry. I cant believe he is no more, it’s a feeling I cant explain. I was looking forward to working with him again but couldn’t find a subject that could justify his talent."Recalling their days as newcomers in the industry he says, “I knew him for almost 42 years, having met during our theatre days. I remember we once visited his film sets and considered him as the pride of Maharashtra even back then. Someone tried to shoo us away from the sets because we were not known back then and he lost his cool.”He adds that just a few days his wife Medha Manjrekar and he were planning to meet Nana. “He used to call her Sarkar (like he did in Natsamarat, the film in which they acted together.) He was like family to us and would keep checking on Medha especially after she was diagnosed with cancer,” says Manjrekar.
