Nana Patekar, an actor with presence, who didn’t fit the mould

Nana Patekar pulled off a rare balancing act in Bollywood. He could play the loudest, most melodramatic of roles. He could also underplay in parts that needed softness, and he brought conviction to both. That he became enormously popular for the former says a great deal about audiences, which gravitate towards easy-to-digest movies.

Patekar’s first few outings posted notice of an actor with presence. In Muzaffar Ali’s 1978 debut Gaman, a poignant tale of urban migration, he had an important supporting role. By the time N Chandra’s 1985 Ankush came along, in which he played a young and restless revenge seeker, Patekar had become an intrinsic part of films trying for difference in the commercial space. It would be hard to bypass the ruthless Anna Seth in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1987 Parinda — Patekar played him with a bravura mix of menace and vulnerability. It’s equally hard to forget him as the straight-arrow army major in the 1991 Prahaar, in which he directed himself and a luminous Madhuri Dixit. Much like Irrfan, who didn’t fall into the conventional chocolate-box template, Nana’s potential for romance was similarly stolen.

A popular, connected-to-the-grassroots actor who was also a powerful orator, Patekar refused to be a spokesperson for a political party. He spoke for the common man through his work, in both film and theatre.