Nana Patekar Given State Honors; Son Explains Late Night Cremation

MUMBAI-Malhar Patekar, son of veteran actor Nana Patekar, has explained why his father’s final rites were held after sunset, saying the family needed time to transport his mortal remains from Goa to the actor’s farmhouse in Donje village in Pune district.

Malhar said the actor passed away early in the morning, and the journey took longer than expected. With considerable time already having elapsed, the family decided that it was not advisable to delay the cremation further.

Nana Patekar was cremated with full state honors at his farmhouse in Donje on October 8. He was accorded a three-gun salute.

Malhar also spoke about carrying forward his father’s legacy of social work, particularly in education and healthcare. He said the work extended across Maharashtra and other parts of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir.

“People like him don’t go anywhere, they live forever through the work they are immortal. He always told us one thing that we should get together for humanity and work for the betterment of the world. He used to think on the global level. Our social work covered Maharashtra, pan-India including Jammu and Kashmir, we are doing all our social work there in the education and the health sector,” he said.

He added that his father had already delegated responsibilities to people he believed could carry forward the work.

“He had already passed on the responsibilities to every single person who deserved it. He had already delegated a lot of work to people who could do justice to it,” Malhar said.

Malhar said he would ensure that his father’s unfinished work was completed, including initiatives the actor had hoped to pursue in areas where social support was needed.

“And, he wanted to start everything from scratch and he wanted to spend his life at a place which demanded something from him in terms of social work. I’ll make sure that whatever unfinished business is there, it gets completed. His dreams and my dreams collectively is to work for the people, I will ensure that it gets done,” he added.

Several members of the film fraternity, including actor Jackie Shroff, directors Anil Sharma and Anees Bazmee, and producer Firoz Nadiadwala, arrived in Donje village to attend the last rites. A large crowd also gathered to pay their respects.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis paid his last respects to the actor at Pune airport before leaving for Mumbai, while Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the actor’s farmhouse.

Nana Patekar died at the age of 75 in Goa after suffering a cardiac arrest, according to the supplied account. He was taken to hospital, where doctors attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and other resuscitation measures for about 45 minutes. He was subsequently declared dead on arrival. (IANS)