One of my earliest memories of Nana Patekar is his National Award-winning performance in Krantiveer. I still remember the scene where he confronts a frenzied crowd with those unforgettable lines: “Yeh Musalman ka khoon, yeh Hindu ka khoon... bata, ismein Musalman ka kaunsa, Hindu ka kaunsa, bata!” As Pratap Narayan Tilak, he gave a performance that stayed with me long after the film ended. His courtroom speech on Hindu-Muslim unity was fierce, angry and deeply human. 

I was quite young when I first saw it but those words stayed somewhere in my mind. They shaped the way I came to look at religious and communal differences. The scene made me realise that no identity should be allowed to make us forget our shared humanity. For me that was the power of Nana Patekar. He was not merely acting a part, but seemed to be saying things that needed to be said and saying them in a way that made you listen. He was first and foremost an artist and perhaps it is apt that his life and work also be seen through three roles that he played the movie actor, the theatre personality and the social worker. Each brought out a different side of Nana Patekar, the actor who could command the screen, the theatre artist who remained rooted in his craft and the social worker who chose to use his voice and resources for people in need. 

Known for his........

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