Nana Patekar dies at 75 after cardiac arrest in Goa

Veteran Indian actor Nana Patekar died on October 8 after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Goa. He was 75. He was cremated later that day at his farmhouse in Pune with full state honours, attended by family, fans, political figures and members of the film industry.

Tributes came from colleagues including Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Manisha Koirala and Amol Palekar. Palekar, who directed Patekar in the 1990 musical *Thodasa Roomani Ho Jayen*, recalled an actor who “commanded attention” and said the two had spoken only two days before his death. Bachchan shared clips from their appearances together and reflected on losing loved ones.

Patekar had remained professionally active. He was scheduled to appear on the premiere of Madhuri Dixit’s Marathi quiz show *Kon Honar Crorepati* and as the final guest of Shekhar Suman’s talk show *Shekhar Tonite*. Sonali Bendre replaced him on the quiz show, while Suman cancelled his season finale. Patekar also had several films awaiting release or still in production, including *Shakti Shalini*, *Eetha*, *Vedantam* and *Kuku Ki Kundali*.

His death also renewed discussion of Tanushree Dutta’s sexual-harassment allegations against him. After Dutta faced criticism for her response, actor Sandhya Mridul and singer Sona Mohapatra defended her, arguing that a person’s death does not erase survivors’ experiences. Patekar had denied Dutta’s allegations.