Media365
2 min readMumbaiOct 11, 2026 04:12 PM IST
Marathi filmmaker and farmer Pravin Tarde has expressed disappointment over the absence of Bollywood actors at Nana Patekar’s funeral. He also highlighted how the presence of thousands of farmers reflected the love and respect the actor had earned among them.
In an interview with ABP Majha, Tarde said, “The fact that Bollywood people did not attend the funeral does not diminish Nana’s greatness. Bollywood is not bigger than Nana. Nana was a very great man. A few thousand farmers attended Nana’s funeral procession. They smelt of sweat and soil. That farmer is more important than anyone in Bollywood wearing perfume.”
He added, “In my opinion, a farmer who came from Dhule is much greater than Bollywood heroes. It makes no difference to us. When did Nana ever say that he belonged to Bollywood? Nana always used to say that he was a farmer.”
That said, the Sarsenapati Hambirrao actor also admitted that he had expected more people from the industry to pay their final respects, especially those with whom Nana Patekar shared a close bond. “If you ask whether I have a complaint, then yes, I do. Bollywood people should have attended the funeral. At the very least, those whom Nana called his friends should have been there. Jackie Shroff and Suresh Wadkar attended,” said the filmmaker-actor.
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“When a small-time actor dies in Mumbai, people line up wearing white clothes. But when it came to Nana… Anyway, the farmers were there, and we were there too,” Tarde added.
Nana Patekar’s friends and colleagues from Bollywood, including Jackie Shroff, Anees Bazmee, Mehul Kumar, Rahul Deshpande, Prasad Oak, Suresh Wadkar and Sajid Nadiadwala, attended his final rites. Actor Makarand Anaspure, who co-founded the Naam Foundation with Nana, was seen crying inconsolably during the ceremony.
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Nana Patekar died on October 8 following a cardiac arrest at his home in Goa. His mortal remains were then taken to his Pune farmhouse, where he was laid to rest with full state honours.
