Exclusive| Malhar Patekar opens up about the loss of his father, actor Nana Patekar: The world around me stopped

Malhar recalls Nana Patekar as active and healthy, surrounded by family, and committed to meaningful work

A trained filmmaker and social worker, Malhar Patekar, son of the late actor Nana Patekar, says he has drawn strength from his parents’ “resilient nature” during the tough time of losing his father recently.

Malhar Patekar with his father, actor Nana Patekar

Speaking to us, Malhar shares, “When growing up as a kid, I imbibed a lot of strength and resilience from my parents. Also, whatever it looks like from the outside to people doesn’t matter to me; in reality, we as a family were strongly and emotionally connected even my uncle and cousins, for that matter. Mujhe sab ka pyar mila hamesha and that matters.”

“Itna sab kuch viral ho raha, woh kitna ghalat hai. Just because we don’t share family pics on Insta, that doesn’t mean we don’t bond. Even after parting ways, my parents were on a good note; 38-39 saal ka bond tha, and things are never what they might look like… The things I read usska jawab yeh hain ke woh akele nahi thhe, kabhi nahin thhe, nor was he unwell because we all never left his side; one of us was always with him. He was very active and doing two and a half hours of working out in a gym; youngsters nahin kar pate, that was his level of fitness.”

Recalling the day he lost his father, Malhar says, “Nana ji was in Goa, and my cousin Prasad, who used to look into all his entertainment-related meetings, was sent off by him to Mumbai as he had to shoot for KBC Marathi with Madhuri ji (Dixit) in a day; also, my other brother, Amay, only left after settling him upstairs in the house. Nanaji was someone jo kabhi kisi ko pareshan nahi karte. So, when he felt uneasy, he only texted him, and it was only after some time that he called him. He reached immediately, but it was late. I got a call from my mum around 5 am while I was in Pune. Uske baad kya hua kuch yaad hi nahi, I felt the world around me stopped.”

On Nana raking less work of late, Malhar shares, “He didn’t want to do films as repetitive ho gya tha, so he wanted to make his own stories. He believed in evolving as an actor, and that he had in mind. I remember him telling me that ‘kaam ek jaisa nahin hona chahiye.’ He did Khamoshi because he wanted to show that Nana can deliver his best without those heavy dialogues associated with his numerous characters. More recently, it was social work that kept him at peace and happy; working on bringing schools to Kashmir and also working towards farmers was all that had been going on. And that is now my prerogative, too.”

Malhar also shares his thoughts on the reactions: “Without naming anyone, I want to say that the case people are bringing up unnecessarily is already over. Judiciary se clear hua hain, case khatam ho chuka; phir bhi bol rahe. Aise logo ko mein unko kuch nahi boluga; joh sach hai wahi rahega, bhagwan unka bhala kare, this is what I have to say to them.”