Biography of Nana Patekar

(January 1, 1951)

In an industry dominated by Punjabi heroes, Nana Patekar has made a name for himself mostly as an average middle class Maharashtrian, who has been wronged by people of higher strata. Born as Vishwanath Patekar in 1951 in Murud-Janjira, Maharashtra, Nana started out acting in amateur theatre.

After playing a role of the common man affected by political hypocrisy and social injustice in ‘Ankush', Nana Patekar came with a bang on the Silver Screen. The strict army man of ‘Prahar', over possessive husband of ‘Agnisakshi', carefree street man-turned-crusader of ‘Krantiveer' and psychotic don ‘Anna of Tarinda' made Nana Patekar a household name.

His performance in ‘Krantiveer' won him the National Award. 'Yashwant’, a movie dwelling on criminal-politician nexus, portrayed Nana as a hard-hitting police officer out to destroy corrupt elements from the society. Nana's typical style of talking and moving his eyes in slow motion adds another dimension to his screen presence.